My Only Love, Sam
by Preticules
Summary: Since she's leaving for LA after high school, Mercedes wrote a letter to Sam about their relationship and its future. Based on Ryan Murphy's spoilers tweets.
1. My only love, Sam

_My only love, Sam…_

_I changed the beginning of this letter a thousand times and I'm still not sure how I'll be able to put down what I'm truly feeling. I can't seem to find which words, out of the millions that already exist, would let me express my heart onto paper._

_I love you Sam Evans._

_Plain and simple. _

_I do, with all of me._

_I know the love we both share is like the ones in movies, or great books. The sparks, the overwhelming feeling I get when you're with me… it's just, I don't know, flawless? To be honest, I don't really believe in the idea of finding your soul mate at such young age, but… when you know, you know, you know? I never thought I could even feel this way about somebody. Ever. But you just came around…and changed everything._

_I like the way you scrunch your nose when you laugh. How you always try to help others, even if sometimes, you're the one in need. The way your green eyes shine when I'm telling you I made cookies. The proud look upon your face when you talk about your parent's accomplishments, or your siblings' good school's results. How you get excited when I talk about how Marvel is a thousand times better than DC. When you say you hate the stupid top 40 songs that pass on the radio, but I catch you humming Call Me Maybe at least twice a day. _

_All those things, they made you. They all made me fall head over heels for you._

_Do you know the TV show One Tree Hill? It was cancelled last year or something… but yeah. Once, a character said _"when you imagine the happiest moment of your life, who's by your side?"

_I did the exercise, I tried to choose the thing that would made me the most happy, and I finally chose when I'll win my first Grammy. That's my number one goal, and when I'll reach it, it think it would make my life complete. As of today, it might be the thing I'm looking most forward to._

_Picture this with me, will you?_

* * *

It's my category now; artist of the year.

After all of the sacrifices I made, the late nights in the studio, the struggles, I made it here. I was acknowledged by the people I used to idolize in my room. I was finally one of them. I smile at the camera when they call my name as one of the nominees. I'm smiling, but I'm nervous. I don't know how I managed to not have a panic attack in front of everyone.

"And the Grammy goes to….." My hands are sweaty, I want to throw up. I have this feeling in my stomach, I've never been this nervous in my entire life. I'm holding my purse so tightly; all of my knuckles are white. I'm flattening my dress on my thighs with a fervent passion. Everything around me seems so blurry. I just see the red chairs and blinding lights, spinning in front of my eyes. Then, time stops.

The announcer calls my name. I won. The winner's me.

The entire music community is applauding me, Mercedes Jones. It's surreal, how could this happen to me, Lima's diva? Just yesterday, I was trying to get a solo in Glee Club. Today, I'm winning a Grammy.

Right before I go on stage to get my trophy, I kiss my fiancé, passionately. I think I might even be crying of joy. We made it. It's the best day of my life. I just won my own kind of Olympics, you know? Then he simply smiles back at me, tear-filled eyes. And if as possible, he has an even bigger smile than mine. _We did it._

* * *

_That's how I see my life's greatest moment, and the man by my side… it's you._

_It's you. It was always you, and it will always be. I just can't picture anybody else on this seat. Every scenario I'm imaging, you're there. The good and the bad times, you're right here, with me. The nights we'll spend arguing about the decoration of the living room (and NO!, we will not buy the original couch James Cameron used during the filming of Avatar), or when we'll receive the call from my manager , saying my song went number one on the Billboard's charts…_

_I'm leaving in two days for UCLA. Along with my recording contract, it's where I'll be learning most of the tools I need to reach my goal. It's the best thing that could happen to my career. Thanks to you. _

_For posting that video on YouTube. For being the greatest supporter/boyfriend ever. But mainly for believing in me, when I wasn't even believing anymore. I truly am grateful of what you did. _

_Even if you found a purpose to the video only AFTER you record it.._

_As you may know, destiny always has odd plans; just when we get back together, distance is still trying to tear us apart. _

_Of course, we'll try to make it work. We'll try to make time for each other; call, text, Skype, e-mail… and before we know it, it's going to be the end of semester, and we won't have as much time as before. I know how Skype sessions won't happen daily anymore, because of our busy schedules, and we'll be mad at not seeing each other every day. I will still love you as much, but it's going to be fight after fight… and it will consume our love. I'd rather let our love grow with distance instead of watching it being destroyed._

_Let's be clear. It's not a break-up letter. I don't want to break up with you. I love you way too much. What I'm trying to say is that maybe we should take the year off. I'm saying it's not a break-up, since I know in my heart I'll still belong to you. I always will._

_We will always find our way back to each other._

_It's only like 8 months. After high school, things will change. It's going to be less complicated. When it'll ends for you, you could come in LA with me, what do you think? Or I could ask for a transfer wherever you want to be. I have a one-year contract. We could move after. We could make it work. As of right now, I want you to concentrate on your school work instead of trying to make work a relation with me, hundred miles away. Maybe you'll need somebody else._

_Not that I want you to go into some bimbo's arms right after I leave, but maybe having someone for you won't be that bad. She'll never be as awesome as me (kidding!), but she might make you happy for a while. _

_Of course it'll hurt me. I'd be lying if I say it would be ok. Seeing you with somebody else will never make me happy. I just try to make it easier on the both of us. I'll be extra busy with school, and I'd feel guilty not talking to you every day, and bailing our chat meetings because of my crazy schedule. I truly want what's best for you, and both of our mind's sanities. I'd rather have somebody comfort you, even if it isn't me._

_No matter what you think right now, how stupid my idea may sound like, or how crazy I am, I want you to respect that. With your family still in Kentucky, you'll need somebody. Not me, miles away. Someone close, to be there, to help you with school work, or just hanging out. Not to take my place, but fill my shoes just a little bit. Maybe not even romantically involved. _

_I want you to know, that no matter what happens this year, I will always love you. Don't ever doubt that._

_I really wish you won't fall for somebody else. But if it happens, it happens. If you choose to be with that girl, let's just say that I'm not going down without a battle. Just so you know, our love; I will fight to get it back._

_I sincerely love you, Sam Evans. __Forgive me for saying all of this in a letter; I wouldn't have been able to say all those things in front of you. I really wish you're not mad at me for taking this decision._

_Oh, and I think I lied earlier. The thing I'm looking the most forward to, if you let me, is spending the rest of my life with you._

_I'm loving you with my whole heart._

_Forever yours, _

_Mercedes Jones. _

_xxx_


	2. We Found Love?

Guys, I want to thank you all so much! All of your reviews, favorites and follows made my day.

I wasn't thinking about making this a fic, but you got me! I personally want to thank lovessamcedes! I got many ideas for future chapters.

Since it was only supposed to be a one-shot thing. This would've been the chapter right before Sam's got the letter. Sorry for any mistakes.

DISCLAIMER : I do not own GLEE. If I did, Samcedes would've been the main couple, Rachel wouldn't be as annoying, and people like Quinn would get decent storylines.

* * *

- No, you have to add the melted chocolate WHILE you mix the butter and the flour!

Making dessert with Mercedes was one hell of an adventure. They decided to make some recipe they found in a cook book from Carole. "It'll be good after our dinner, Sam" she said. "It's going to be easy" she said.

So here they were, in the middle of the Hummel/Hudson's kitchen, flour everywhere, wondering why they didn't go to the grocery store and bought a cake instead.

Sam had the mixture in the bowl, while he tried his best to blend everything together. The book said that it took only 10 minutes to mix, and 35 minutes for it to cook. Let's just say that it's been more than an hour… and it was still completely raw.

- Okay, I think it's mixed enough! Just put it in the pan, and place it in the oven!

- Hey, drop the sassiness, young lady! You wanted to make a cake, here we are. Kurt told me it takes some time, because you don't want to develop the gluten too much, or something like that. You have to be really careful.

There was many things that were serious matter to Kurt; his entourage, fashion and food. Sam learned the last one, earlier this year. He wanted to thank Carole and Burt, so he figured that he could do them a romantic dinner. He asked for Kurt's help, and they decided to offer the parents a simple roasted beef, mashed potatoes and some vegetables. A simple meal, Sam thought.

Not with Kurt Hummel.

They had to wake up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday, because _"Sam, the vegetables are delivered in the morning, you can't expect them to still be fresh at 3 in the afternoon!"_ To what Sam respond with a _"But if they won't be fresh at 3 in the afternoon at the grocery store, why would they be fresh at home?"_

Kurt didn't laugh. So, instead of starting a cold war between some carrots and onions, Sam shut his mouth and pushed the cart. The day went on, without many incidents, besides the fact that every time Sam was doing something a little rough, he heard Kurt's whispers in the background. _"Respect the food, you blond Hulk."_

So, both of them worked together almost in silence, besides outbursts on song that were playing in the kitchen radio. Singing through celery stick seemed to have loosened the atmosphere. When they were done, the guys offered their fabulous dinner to Burt and Carole, whom were happily surprised by the actions. Sam was proud of what he did, even if it took them almost 5 hours to do. How was it possible for moms to do those kinds of meals every night?

Since then, the boys, sometimes with Finn's clumsy help, made a bunch of meals, to give Carole some days off. Sam smiled at the memory of some of their attempts to do some flambé, which ended up in Burt's call to a pizza place. The boys were banned for using any kind of fire in the house for at least a month after the incident.

Even if he missed his family, he had a second one, in the Hudmel's estate. He missed his own parents and siblings, but his year was not so bad, after all.

He still had a place to live, people that loved him, great friends and an awesome girlfriend.

- Well, I'm really sorry for doubting your skills, master of the desserts!

- I prefer _Sir_, but you can use master for now.

Mercedes raised an eyebrow at him, and burst out laughing.

They were always like that. Mercedes had her sassy, while Sam was being his usual dork. For others, being that much different might have been a problem, but they were…complete with their opposite selves. They had a mature relationship, in which they both bring the best out of the other one.

- Fine! I surrender under your knowledge!

Sam let down his bowl, and embraced his girlfriend form behind, with both of his arms. He kissed gently her shoulder, and whispered I love you into her ear.

- Okay, I love you too, but you just put some chocolate on my shirt. So I love you a little less.

- You're a liar, woman! I'm sorry for your shirt, but you love me so much.

- Yeah. Yeah, I do.

She sighed and escaped herself from his arms to put the dessert in the oven. Sam thought that she might be truly annoyed about her shirt, and shrugged it off.

When the two of them were done with cleaning the kitchen, they decided to keep things simple for the day. They already went shopping yesterday for Mercedes and Puck's apartment. They bought many things; towels, cushions, dishes… It cost her lot of money, so they settled with a free activity for today.

- I don't want to watch Avatar. We watched it like yesterday! We could go for a swim maybe? We could watch something else after!

- You, me, in bathing suits, while something is cooking… You know we won't be inside the house in time to prevent the place to burn down! Look, it still need 12 minutes, why don't we go put on our bathing suits, and we'll go in the pool after the cake is out?

- Sounds like a good plan!

- Please, I always have good plans baby.

- Remember your love for Justin Bieber, and your one-man band? That's what I thought.

Mercedes let out a loud laugh, left the kitchen and went upstairs to go change while Sam went to the dryer, where he left his bathing suit yesterday. He grabbed two towels for them and waited for her to get back, sitting on the counter by the oven.

- Before you say anything, I want to say for my defense that we paid for those swimsuits and I look great in it.

She appeared in the kitchen, and Mercedes was indeed looking great in her swimsuit. She was beautiful. The way her hair was in a messy bun, and her bangs were falling on both sides of her face, she looked so … perfect. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but she was gorgeous. To say he was completely head over heels was an understatement. Coming to his senses, he wondered where he saw that piece of clothing before.

- You're looking absolutely stunning. Wait, is that the one you had when we all did the performance to Emma for Will's proposal?

- Maybe?

Mercedes giggled, and Sam got down from the counter and made his way towards her. He also had his swimsuit on; simple white, blue and green plaid shorts. He put a part of her hair behind her ear, and bend his face to kiss her on the lips.

- I love you, Mercedes Jones.

Mercedes bit her bottom lip, and lifted her head toward Sam. Their lips were only millimeters from each other's.

BEEEEEEEP!

Of course, the oven's alarm decided to go off, right at this moment. Sam groaned and let out a "Really?!" which made Mercedes laughed.

The two of them went out and stayed in the garden the entire afternoon. Somehow, Sam and Mercedes thought it would be fun to redo their proposal choreography in the pool. Well, it actually ended up in Sam splashing water everywhere and Mercedes singing We Found Love at the top of her lungs. It was… magnificient?

They only got inside when it was time for dinner. They ate casually during a rewatch of their favorites _How I Met Your Mother_'s episodes that Kurt had on DVD. When it was almost midnight, they stopped cuddling on the Hudmel's couch, and decided to go up to Sam's room.

* * *

When Sam woke up the next morning, he searched Mercedes's body to cuddle with, but found an empty spot besides him. He thought she might've been at the bathroom, or considering the time of the day, almost noon, she might've been making breakfast. Or lunch.

When he got downstairs, he saw Kurt and Blaine at the kitchen table, eating cereals.

- Hey guys, have you seen Mercedes? She wasn't in my room when I woke up.

- Nope! Maybe she left you a text saying where she is but I know her car isn't parked here.

Sam nodded and went back to his room, wondering where the hell she went. They were supposed to be together today, so it was odd for her to leave. When he took his phone from the bedside table, his eyes found something on her pillow.

A letter was there. A letter, addressed to him, written in Mercedes' handwriting.

He opened it and started reading.

_My only love, Sam…_

* * *

_So... what did you guys think? Next chapter is how Sam reacted to the letter._

_If you have any suggestions, you can always tell me about it! _

_Genevieve xx_


	3. 5 AM

Hey what's up you guys? Thanks again for the follows/favorites of my story!

So here's the Mercedes chapter, before she gave him the letter.

I really hope you'll enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER : I do not own anything about Glee whatsoever.

* * *

The sun was already rising and coming through the blinds in Sam's room. Mercedes opened her right eye and glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

5h07 A.M.

She groaned and saw Sam's arm attached to her waist, holding her back to his firm chest. Her naked body felt so right against his. When her body was cold, he always was her own personal heater. They seemed to be a puzzle, the way he was perfectly fitting against her back. She was peaceful when their bodies were intertwined. She could've spent the entire day in this position, if it wasn't for her urgency to urinate. She softly pulled away his arm, and on her tip toes, made her way to the bathroom. She took care of her bladder, and made her way to the sink.

As she washed her hands, Mercedes looked at her reflection. She splashed cold water on her face and sighed.

_"You can do this, Jones. It's going to be fine. It's only a year. You just have to put the letter on his pillow, then leave. He will try to stop you, but you have to do it."_

Or she could just destroy the letter and pretend she never wrote it. She could go back to bed and cuddle with her boyfriend. They would enjoy their last remaining days. They would text, call, Skype… it could work, couldn't it?

Her inner voice knew better. She didn't want to be away from him, but she made her decision. It would be too hard being 2,000 miles apart. It would be stupid to try their long-distance relationship, since they were not able to do it last summer. They promised to call and text every day… but Mercedes preferred to end things. It was for the best.

If she stayed with him for her two remaining days, he would try anything to convince her that they should be together, even if she was away. She could not stay in Lima. She had to go.

If she put the letter in his pillow, she would've to leave. She wouldn't be able to fight him, face to face, and she'll end up falling for his pleading green eyes.

The mirror reflected her now crying eyes. She sighed and shook her head. Why was it so hard for her to get this over with? It was just putting a letter on a pillow and leaving.

She knew why it was so hard. Because leaving Sam meant also leaving all of their memories, all of their amazing times together. She knew it was goodbye, but for how long? Would she be able to come back for some weekends? Would she be back to him for Thanksgiving? Would he still love her?

She couldn't stop the tears from falling. She was better than that, crying in the Hudmel's bathroom at 5 AM, making life decisions about her future.

She was a strong, talented and fierce young woman. She could do this.

_"Mercedes Jones, you are capable of doing anything. You can move mountains. Just get this over with, and you'll be able to move to LA. What's a year in a life? Everything's going to be okay."_

She sighed and made her way back to his room. She quietly put her clothes back on and stared at Sam, as she closed her jean's zipper. His hair was falling to his forehead and his lips were unintentionally pouting. He looked so peaceful, almost like a child, if it wasn't for his prominent muscles and his early beard growing on his cheeks.

She took her cellphone and got out of the room to call his dad. He answered on the 4th ring with a sleepy voice.

- Dad, sorry to wake you up, but could you come and get me at Hudmel's house?

- Mercy, it's 5:30 in the morning… is everything okay?

- No, everything's okay, I just didn't take my car yesterday and spent the night. Could you come like, right now?

- Hum….Yeah, sure… I'm getting dressed and I'm coming right up. Just give me 15 minutes and I should be there.

- Don't ring; I don't want to wake anybody. See you later!

Gregory Jones was a successful dentist who had his own cabinet in Lima, Ohio. He had two beautiful children with his wife, Danielle, and they were happily married for more than 25 years.

Mercedes' brother, Anthony, was at Columbus' University, studying in physiotherapy and he was now 22. The young man chose his path during high school, when he was playing football and injured himself. The doctors took care of him when he needed it the most. After his recovery, he kept in touch with the physician, who proposed him to try one day, with them, to see if he would like to make this a living. And he actually did. So he made his way to Columbus, and was about to start his third year in September.

As for Mercedes, her parents wanted her to choose the same kind of future. They knew her love for music, but mostly they were aware of her magnificent talent, but rare were the girls from Lima who became big stars. They knew how wonderful she was, but they couldn't bear with the thought of her struggling to pay rent, or not having enough to eat.

When Mercedes told her parents that she didn't know what else to do with her life besides singing, they were disappointed. No matter how talented she was, her dream was unreasonable and insane. How could she be able to make this for a living? She would have to move across the country, far from home, with nobody to take care of her…

They couldn't let this happen.

Until Sam Evans got her that recording contract. They were upset at first, but if a company wanted to sign her, they could be happy for her. It was an honest income, and it would help her after all. She might not have got a record deal to herself, but Mariah Carey also started as a back-up singer and she made her way to the top, didn't she?

The label _Duvinyl_ offered her a contract because of the _Mercedes Inferno_ video Sam posted on YouTube. Danielle and Gregory were reluctant at first, but when Mercedes promised to take extra classes in University of California in Los Angeles, they began to let go of their insecurities to make some place for their pride.

Even though they were secretly excited for their daughter, the main thing bothering them was the fact that she would be alone in a big city, with nobody. Not even a semi-close relative that might be living near.

Nobody.

It seems to have no solutions to the problem since they didn't want her to be there by herself. Her parents made very clear that her security was way more important than her recording deal. They gave her an ultimatum.

If she couldn't find anybody to live with her, she wouldn't go.

Mercedes could not believe it. She was so close to her dream, she could even touch it. And she was supposed to let it go because she couldn't find a roommate? She prayed to find an answer to the situation; she couldn't let this opportunity go.

Then she had a flash.

Noah Puckerman.

The last time they talked, he was supposed to open his pool cleaning business, in LA, after high school. How come she didn't think of him before?

They could always live together. They became great friends after their false relationship, mainly of Glee Club, but they both had similar characters. When they had their mind set on something, it was hard to change it. He had his "bad boy" facade, but he turned out to be a responsible young man, after all.

When she talked to him about her plan, he was ecstatic. Puck wanted to make it in the big city, but alone? He was certainly not ready for that. He almost agreed on the spot. They only needed to convince both of their parents to let them go, so they settled on a plan.

And it worked. It took some convincing from Mercedes' side, but they surrendered under persuasive arguments. So they decided to rent a two-bedroom apartment, it was a condition for them to go. The location of their apartment was not so far form UCLA and it was near from the two contracts Puck already got, thanks to Shelby's friends.

Things seemed to work out, after all.

_They would make it. _

Sam's snores took her out of her daydreaming.

She sighed again at the sight before her eyes. Reality hit her. The man she loved was right there and she had to leave him.

It would only be 8 months, 10 months top. They would make it.

She gathered her stuff; kissed Sam once on the lips and once on the forehead.

- I will always love you, Sam.

She took the letter out of her bag and put it on the pillow she used last night. Before her sobs woke him up, she made her way to the door with one last look over her shoulder.

She saw her dad's car making its way towards the house, so she went outside. She took out her cellphone, and entered his dad's car. When his dad looked at her with a confused face, she lifted her finger up and waited for the person to pick up her phone.

- Noah? It's me, Mercy… Sorry to wake you, but do you think you'd be able to leave for L.A. today?

* * *

So what did you guys think? ;)

Next chapter is Sam's reaction to the letter! (Much angst to come, just so you know!)

Genevieve xxx


	4. I'm running to you

Hey, soooo this is Sam's reaction to the letter. Hope you'll like it xx

DISCLAIMER : I do not own GLEE. If I did, Samcedes would've been the main couple, Rachel wouldn't be as annoying, and people like Quinn would get decent storylines.

* * *

Do you know that feeling you get when you cry too hard? Like all of your body is hurting at the same time? You feel your emotional pain through your bones? That was it. Sam couldn't just stop the tears from falling. His entire self was aching. He needed to slow his breathing pace, or he'll end up hyperventilate.

How could this happen? Just yesterday, they made love, whispering I love you's. They had a nice night; they watched their favorite TV show, ate, made love and slept. Just the two of them in the house, since Kurt was at Blaine's, Finn went to his boot camp for the army, and both Carole and Burt had to go to DC for a day or two.

They lived this day like nothing in the world mattered, but them. They were just Sam and Mercedes, no school, no LA coming up, no work, no money problem… They were careless, and it felt so good. Afterward, he felt like they were acting selfish, but they could afford it for an hour or two.

When they were only two teenagers in love, hanging out, Sam knew. He just knew. Her snores could easily be the soundtrack to all of his nights. He could wake up every damn day, ready to face the world, if she was with him. How perfect his life would be by her side. How perfect they would be. He could picture them, doing the exact same thing in 10 years. He might be young, but he knew how life can be. It might have been wishful thinking, but as they say, _when you have something great, don't let it go._

" Hello there! You have successfully reached the voicemail of Dwight, Mary, Sam, Stevie and Stacey Evans! We're busy right now, so just leave us a message and we'll try our best to call you back! Thank you and have yourself a nice day! BEEEP "

- Um, hi, it's-it's your son, it's, um, Sam. "

Sam took a deep breath, and tried to contain his sobs. He just finished reading Mercedes' letter. And then he read it again. And again. And again. Until he couldn't read through his tears. He carefully folded it and put it in his bedside table. Even though it was a heartbreaking letter, he didn't want to ruin it. Mercedes' letter still contained her promises of forever's.

He needed his father to be there, and he needed to talk to him. When everything around him was slowly falling apart, Sam needed his dad. Half of his friends left his school, and his girlfriend, well she wasn't his girlfriend anymore. He wanted his father's comforting hand on his shoulder, telling him everything would be okay in the end, _because if it's not okay, it's not the end._

Sam stared at the phone. He's been in complete silence for at least 2 minutes. He was truly the greatest person to let voicemail messages. Or not. Coming to his senses, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"I just wanted to talk to you, Dad… When you have a moment, could you call me back? It's important. I love you all. I-I just... I have to go." And before they heard his crying in the voicemail, he hung up, and threw his phone on his bed in the Hummel/Hudson's home.

He was sitting on the tip of Finn's old bed, which belonged to him now, his head between his knees, containing his sobs. Trying to understand her motives were harder than he thought. His inner voice was telling him that it would be fine. It was only a year. They loved each other enough to get through this.

He truly wanted to see the good side of this… but there wasn't a good side. He wouldn't be with her. Of course, he wanted to be mature. He wanted to tell her that it was okay. But it was not.

He was disturbed in his trail of thoughts by a knock on the door. Since he lived there for almost half a year, he could recognize the kind of knocks. Carole's were soft, as if she didn't really want to disturb. Burt's were always two firm knocks, followed by a loud call of his name. Finn didn't even bother to knock anymore; he always just entered in his room. And as for Kurt, he always did a little song with his fists on the door.

- Sam? I don't want to bother you, but is everything okay in there?

Sam passed a hand on his face to wipe the tears and cleared his throat. He tried his best not to be rude with Kurt since he didn't do anything wrong.

- Yeah, Kurt I'm fine… Did you need anything special?

- Oh, no, I just wanted to check up on you. If you need to talk, or anything, I'll be in my room with Blaine.

- Okay, thanks. Look, I'll go for a run, so don't wait for me if you guys want to eat. I'm not really hungry.

- But it's raining outside, you could easily catch a cold. If you really want to work out, you should do it inside. I mean, you'll be…

- I'm still going. I don't want to sound rude or anything, but if you want to leave now, that would be fine. I'll be fine.

Sam waited until the footsteps were far enough to get out of his room. He felt horrible, and he didn't want Kurt or Blaine to see him like that. He went to the bathroom to put some cold water on his face. When he faced the mirror, his eyes were puffy and his entire face was red. He looked like a mess.

Sam went back to his room, and put on some sweaters and a wife beater. He passed in front of Kurt's room and talked to the boys through the door.

- Sorry for being arrogant earlier. I'm heading for a run. See you guys later.

He took his iPod, put on his music to the highest volume and ran. At first, he didn't have a special destination, he just ran through the city. After almost an hour of running, he was out of breath, and his feet seemed to make their way towards Mercedes' house. Towards her, towards where his heart was. He didn't mean to end up here, but his subconscious decided otherwise.

He checked the drive-way. Her car wasn't parked, but it could always be in the garage. He knocked on the door, and cursed himself for not thinking about what to say if she came to answer. "Hi, I don't want to take the year off. We'll make it work." or "I don't want anybody else. I love you." Before he could prepare a speech in his head, or even slow down his heartbeats, the door opened to show Mercedes' mother in the doorway. He was still breathless when she appeared with an apron around her waist and a towel in her hands.

If Mercy grew up like her mother, he would be a lucky man. Danielle Jones was a really pretty woman, not looking a day over 40, even though she would be celebrating her 52nd birthday in a month. When she reached the age of 50, Danielle decided to retire from her functions of head doctor at the Lima's clinic, so she now dedicated her life to her family and some charities events.

He couldn't help but think about the similarities between Danielle and Mercedes. They both had a light brown skin tone, and they had the same doe brown eyes. The women were both kind and caring, but also fierce and sassy at the same time.

- Sam? What are you doing here?

- Miss Jones, I'm really sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if Mercedes was home. I really need to talk to her.

Danielle looked at Sam's face, but couldn't say the words. She saw the distress in his traits. The young boy was deeply in love with her daughter, and after hearing Mercy's plans; she couldn't help but feel bad for Sam. She knew what he was here for. He ran all the way from his house to try to convince her that she was making a mistake.

- Sam… I know what you want to talk to her about. We never had secrets in this house. I would love for you to talk to her, and rearrange everything... But she left.

- When is she going to be back? I could come back later…

- No, she left. As in "left for LA".

The ground seemed to be messing with him, nothing to take a grip on. She left, without any goodbye. She left him a letter and skipped town. Why would she do that?

- But, but, she said she had two days left?

- I don't know anything about that; she just took her stuff, packed them in the car and left with his dad, and they made their way to the airport. You know Mercedes hate goodbyes…

Danielle took a deep breath and began to play with her wedding ring. She seemed to be thinking about what she was about to say.

- I'm going to be honest with you Sam. I don't know why she did what she did. I might never understand why my daughter is so stubborn. I know she's the one who broke things off last summer, and I know she's the one doing it again today. I love my daughter… but she can make some stupid decisions. She might think that's it better for both of you to take your distance… but we both know that it's not. I know it's not what you want to hear right now, but respect her decision.

Sam was now looking at his feet with a burning passion. He couldn't look Mrs. Jones in the eyes, or he knew he'll end up bawling like a baby. He was supposed to be a man, but he never felt so vulnerable. Even when his family lost their home, he hadn't felt in this kind of way. Both situations were awful, but they were hurting him in two different ways.

Danielle softly put a finger under his chin, and lifts up his head.

- Sam. It'll be okay. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it'll be okay. People who belong together will always find their way back to each other, believe me.

She motherly kissed Sam on the forehead and embraced him in a tight hug.

- Do you want to come inside?

Danielle chuckled when she remembered Sam's love for her homemade cooking.

- You know, I made my famous soup!

- No, thank you. I better head back home. I'm really sorry for bothering you. Good night.

Sam turned his feet, and was about to leave the Jones' porch when Danielle told him to stop.

- She might be stubborn, and doesn't want to be in a relationship thousand miles away, but she would be even more heartbroken if you stopped talking to her… It sounds awful, since you guys both want to be more than that, but being his friend would mean the world to her. Don't cut ties with her. It'll destroy your relation. Just… just don't step over her boundaries.

- I'm, I'm really thankful for what you just told me. … I guess I'll try my best.

With that, Sam plugged his ear buds in his ears and started to run again. He put his iPod on shuffle_, and of course_, all of the songs reminded him of Mercedes. How was it possible to have more than 2,000 songs and each one of them had a memory related to it? When he skipped the 273rd song, he stopped and stared at his iPod. It had to be this song.

The one she sang to him in Glee Club, when she broke things with him on Valentine's Day.

_I will always love you._ Really, universe?

It took him some time to realize he was crying again. The rain whipped his face, but it didn't matter. There he stood, in the middle of the street, looking at a screen. When you think about it, a song is simply an arrangement of notes and chords. With an alignment of the same 26 letters, mixed in different order. Although, some of the music could send you to some other place, or simply give you goose bumps.

Not this one.

It didn't make him feel any good, it destroyed his heart. He knew she would always love him, but so many things could happen in a year. He was not the man he was last year, how could he be the same person a year from now?

He skipped the song, and began running again.

The rain on his skin, while the tears ran down his face… The feeling of his heart beating so fast, that it could explode in his chest at any moment… it weirdly felt good. It made him alive.

Sam realized the last meal he had was almost 24 hours ago. He had to eat something, and not being that much of a zombie. He started to make his way home, when he heard a horn through his music. He was running in the middle of the street, crying. He must have been strange looking for any other human passing by. When Sam turned around, he saw a black SUV. The window rolled down, and someone shouted.

- Sam?! Is that you?

He looked up, took out his ear buds, and found Carole and Burt in their car, both with concern faces.

- How come you're not home? It's raining sweetheart, you're going to be sick! Are, are you crying? Sam, is everything okay?

Carole Hudson and Burt Hummel were amazing people. When Finn and Rachel came to Kentucky, they proposed him to live with them, if he wanted to stay. They offered a shelter to Sam, even if they didn't knew him that well.

They acted like a second family to him. She baked a pie for the Evan's family on Christmas, she tried his best to comfort him on Valentine's Day, and she squealed when she heard that Sam and Mercedes became an item once again. As for Burt, he offered him a job at his tire shop, watched baseball with him on Sundays, and opened his home to him. They were wonderful human beings. Sam would forever be grateful for what they did for him. If the world had more Carole and Burt, it would be a much better place.

Carole got out of the truck and opened the back seat door, letting Sam inside.

- Sweetie, why are you crying? Did anything happen? Are-are you okay?

Sam wanted to scream that he was indeed not okay.

Nothing was okay.

She broke things with him. She loved him, but what was the point if they couldn't be together? He wanted to scream to the world why he was crying, why all he could feel was hurt. Words just couldn't make their way from his heart to his mouth. He looked at Carole and Burt's frowning faces and could only hiccup and mumble some words.

- No, I'm, I'm not okay. I just-I can't …

* * *

Do you guys hate me? I never thought I would enjoy writing angst this much!

Anywaaaaay, I'm trying to update fast, but I really want the chapters to be great..

I have a plane already written on where I want this story to go, so fear not!

Genevieve xxx


	5. PuckyPuck

_How's it going guys? :)_

_So, this chapter is a Puckcedes broship one, not that much angst! _

_I want you to thank all of you for your reviews, and don't judge me...but I still have no idea how to answer to reviews. (genius, I know)_

_Soooo, here it is :)_

_DISCLAIMER : blablabla Ryan Murphy and stuff. _

* * *

A glance at his watch informed Puck that it was now 1h19 in the afternoon. He passed a hand on his face and sighed at the sight of Mercedes by his right.

She insisted on being on the side of the window, and she sincerely looked at it non-stop since they took off 2 hours ago. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were puffy and red. Something was wrong.

They were supposed to leave Friday, in the morning, but here they were, Wednesday afternoon in the economic section of a plane, in direction of LA. At first, he wondered why Mercy wanted to leave this early, but hearing her tone, he knew that he shouldn't ask many questions if he cared about his health. Since most of his friends already left for their own schools or jobs, he had made his goodbyes. He was confused by Mercedes' urgency to leave, but he simply agreed, and packed his bags. All of that happened in the short amount of time that is 6 hours.

Puck sighed, took out his iPod from his pocket, pressed pause and took off his ear buds. Mercedes was a beautiful woman, but there was something that made her shine less than usual. Her smile didn't reach her eyes like it usually did when he sang at the top of his lungs the verse to _Good Vibrations_ at the airport. She only told him to keep quiet, and kept on walking. She took a simple coffee instead of the fancy mocha she usually orders, and God knows how much she loved them! And when she started talking, she was usually unstoppable, but she hadn't said a word yet. Something was definitely wrong. She seemed, well, just not like the Mercedes he knew.

He positioned himself so he could be closer to her seat, leaning on her armrest and cleared his throat.

-So... would you like to remind me once again why we're on this plane right now instead of Friday?

Mercedes rolled her eyes, took off her own ear buds and look at her left, where Puck was frowning and staring at her.

- Look, I already told you! It was easier if we left today. My dad had a connection at the airport that could get us last minute tickets for half the price. We left today so we could save money! You're welcome, by the way.

- No, that's the bullshit reason. We could've used the discount any day. Does the real reason have anything to do with the trouty Sammy? Because I feel like you're hiding something. Or you are taking drugs.

- Drugs?! What?

- Your eyes. Or its pot or you've been crying for a long time.

Mercedes sighed at stared at her mohawked friend.

- It's nothing. I'm just anxious. You can sleep if you want to; I'll wake you when we'll get there.

- Really? Mercedes, you can lie to everybody, but you can't lie to me. We might not have been the greatest friends of all, but we're about to start some great broship here. We will be living together, like 24/7. I'm telling you, your kids will talk about uncle Pucky Puck, and Beth will adore that her favorite aunt is famous worldwide. We are starting something great Mercy. And I don't want us to have a bad start.

- Pucky Puck? That's your nickname?

- Hey, it's great! It's my rapper name!

Both of them half-laughed softly, until Mercedes went back to looking at her window and Puck found an obsession with his chuck's laces.

- Look, you can tell me that you don't want to talk about what you're feeling, but don't lie to me. I want to know why you're this uptight right now. I'm not always a good friend, but I really care about you. I want to understand, Mercy! Don't shut me out.

- It's just…I-I broke up with Sam… In a letter.

- What?!

She removed her gaze from the clouds and went back to her hazel eyed friend.

- What did you expect? Los Angeles is more than 2,000 miles away from Lima. We already tried the long-distance thing, but it didn't work out. It's for the best.

- It didn't work the first time because you didn't believe that teenage love could last. This time... It's different. We both know your love has grown since those Summer Nights!

Puck chuckled at his own joke and eyed Mercedes' reaction.  
She didn't thought it was funny.

- Mercy... It's because of the distance, yes, I know. But there's something more about all of this, isn't it?

- No...

- Yes, it's about you and your stupid walls. When something is about to hurt you, you just put them up. You don't want anyone to know that finally, you're not invincible. You do have feelings, and insecurities, like everybody else. Yes, you are fierce and you don't take shit from anybody… I'm like that too, you know? But sometimes, you gotta swallow your pride and admit that, yes, it does hurt, and yes, you're afraid of what could happen. But Sam is my bro, and he's a great guy. I just don't get why you don't want to try this long-distance thing.

When Mercedes didn't respond, he groaned, which made Mercedes turn her head towards the window, once again.

- Okay maybe you really don't care about my advice, but listen to this one thing; don't block him from your life because of what you're feeling.

- It's not that easy, Noah… I'll be two thousand miles away. It takes 36 hours by car, like 5 hours by plane… We'll never see each other. I mean, we'll be in school during the day, at night I'll be at the studio, him doing his homework or working at Burt's shop… Texting won't be enough. It just won't work. It's better this way.

Puck laughed and shook his head at Mercedes' antics.

- You know, I love the fact that you're trying to both convince me and yourself.

- What does that mean?

- It means that you don't want to put yourself into this because you're afraid of what might happen. You tell yourself that it cannot work, so you find some ways to sabotage it. You give excuses, Mercy.

Mercedes felt the sting coming back to her eyes, because she knew that Puck was right. Her relationship with Sam might not have been perfect, but nothing in this world was. They were happy together. She never felt that way with anyone. He seemed to make her whole, a better version of herself. She was powerful with him, but at the same time highly vulnerable. It's what love can do, isn't it?

Every time she let her guard down, she ended up heart-broken. Exhibit A; last summer, when Sam left for Kentucky. She was devastated, and she had been a zombie version of herself for some days. She never wanted to feel that helpless ever again.

If something bad happened while she was in LA, it would break both of their hearts. If they weren't together, they wouldn't have to suffer. It was better to part.

- Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore. At least, not now.

- Okay… but you know I care, right?

- Yes, and thank you, but if you don't mind, I'm tired of crying. So if you can wake me when we'll get there, that'll be great.

Mercedes half-smiled and put her headphones back on, and closed her eyes. Puck felt that he might've pushed her too much when he saw a tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

After taking a cab from the airport, Mercedes and Puck made their way towards their new home, for the first time.

The apartment was ironically kind of bigger than the pictures they saw on the internet. With Puck's business' money, Mercedes' contract and the Jones' financial help, they were able to get a spacious 2 bedrooms place.

It actually all happened because of Quinn's sister, Frannie, a real estate agent. She knew some people here and there, and she pulled some strings to help them score this kind of apartment. It was in their budget, and there didn't seem to have any hidden vices.

The only problem was that it was located in a basement, and sometimes cell phones wouldn't get their connections right in. But for the price they were paying, it didn't seem like a big deal. Their parents already knew about this, so they wouldn't worry. Of course, it seemed kind of dangerous in their mom's heart, but the internet would be functional if anything happened and they couldn't be joined.

When they left Lima, they took the decision to buy furniture there. Yes, it would be expensive, but how were they supposed to fit a couch in a plane? So they took their clothes and stuff that they already bought and brought them in suitcases.

Mercedes called her parents as soon as they got off the plane, and Puck did the same to her mom, to let them all know that they landed safely. Both of them were exhausted but they had to go to the store. It couldn't wait.

Puck took their suitcases and put them in the center of what would be their new living room, and checked the time. It was almost 6 pm.

- Okay, match plan. We go to the closest furniture store, we buy our beds, couch, and everything we need, we pray it gets delivered tomorrow, and we sleep at the hotel for tonight.

- Works for me, also we should get ourselves something to eat. I don't know about you, but feelings and planes gets me kinda hungry

* * *

After buying a pretty, comfortable and expensive red couch, a mattress for each of them, a washer and dryer ensemble, an oven and a refrigerator, they made their way to the closest hotel. The store promised them that their command should be delivered the next day, since they had everything they ordered in store. It was now almost 10pm and they were pretty exhausted. Shopping WAS a sport.

They made their way to the "_L.A. Comfort_" hotel, where was a circular brown desk, with a pretty receptionist, not looking over 25, in the middle of the lobby. Puck put on his most charming smile and spoke up.

- Sorry to disturb you…Lydia, but we'd like to have a room with TWO beds, please.

Noah winked at the lady, who stupidly giggled at his action. She bit her lip and placed her brown hair behind her ear.

Mercedes sighed. It not has been 12 hours since they were in town, and he was already putting his Puckasaurus' moves on a girl.

- I'm really sorry, but there's a cosplay reunion in town, so all of our rooms with two beds are not available at the moment. We could offer you one of our suite, or we could give you a room with a King size bed.

Mercy looked at the lady and rolled her eyes. Really? A cosplay? A stupid cosplay was stopping her from getting a good night sleep? Hell to the no.

- Could you give us a second?

Mercedes dragged Puck away from the lady who was now smiling and flirting with him from afar. When he wiggled his eyebrows at the lady, she punched him in the arm. He groaned in pain and rubbed the place she just hit her.

- Be serious now! We don't have the money to take a suite, Puck. We just bought for like 3.000 bucks of furniture. I don't know about you, but the less I can pay, the happier I'll be.

- Fine, I'll sleep on my side of the bed. Deal?

- Deal, but I'm snoring!

Mercedes laughed and looked up at Lydia and smiled.

- We'll take it.

The woman eye-sexed Puck some more while she filled their reservation, and when she gave him their unlocking cards; she discreetly gave her number with them. Mercedes couldn't stop the urge to roll her eyes and sighing. If the woman could just give her the card, so she could go up to her room, things would be great.

After what seems like hours, which were actually not more than 30 minutes, both of them had took their showers and made their way to the comfortable bed. As soon as their heads touched the comfortable pillows, they fell asleep almost instantly.

- Mercy?

In response, she groaned.

- I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't want to intrude your space, or hurting you. I just wanted to give you an opinion from a different view.

- It's fine. Don't worry about it.

Just when she was about to fall back asleep, Puck spoke again.

- Don't tell anyone that I'm kinda scared, because I'll deny it…. But do you think we'll be okay? It's LA… I mean, we don't have any family here, we only got each other! Beth is 2,000 miles away… I know we said it was a great idea, but what if it doesn't work?

She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. They were in another city, all the way across the country. They didn't have anybody else; it was only the two of them.

What if, finally, they weren't good enough for LA? What if, _she_ wasn't good enough? She scored the record deal, but what if she was going to stay a back-up singer forever?

She took a deep breath and glanced at her friend, who stared at the ceiling, looking anxious. She searched for words that could ease his pain, but they didn't seem to reach her mouth. She knew, deep down, that it would be fine.

After all, they were Mercedes Jones and Noah Puckerman; fiercest bad-asses that Lima has ever known!

Of course, things might be hard at first, but it would be okay. She reached for his left hand and squeezed it. He stared at their fingers intertwined and looked at her.

- Noah, it might not be perfect right now, but… I think we will be just fine.

* * *

_So, what did you guys think?_

_I want you that I've gotten many ideas for next chapters, and I'm stuck with writing the seventh one, who seems to be a bitch to me._

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)_

_xx _

_Genevieve _


	6. The Sun Will Shine

_Hey, what's up guys? Thank you all for the great feedback, it really means a lot to me!_

_Now, I want you to know that this chapter is important to me._

_When Sam appeared in Glee, I was like "Oh, he's only a jock" but the more the season advanced, the more I saw myself in him. Besides his hunger for popularity, I had the same kind of values._

_Then Rumors happened. I lived the same thing. I didn't end up in a motel, but my parents struggled with money. Like a lot. This chapter will explain how Sam's family lost their home, and it's kinda auto-biographic… so yeah. It was hard for me to write, because I connected with the character as I wrote it. I really hope you will like this chapter._

_Disclaimer : FOX, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan own everything. The only thing I have is my imagination and the way I plan this story to go._

* * *

Sam had to keep himself busy. It was simple. When his mind was thinking about something special he could pretend he was not hurt. Just for a moment, he was not Sam anymore. He didn't have to think about his broken heart.

He just hasn't found an activity to give him some inner peace, yet. But he was searching.

He thought about reading a book, but his dyslexia would've only made him angry. He thought about playing guitar, but all melodies would've ended up in sappy ballads. He thought about going for a run, but it was still raining and Carole forbid him to go outside in this temperature.

So there he was, counting the number of horizontal green lines on his comforter. It was a great way to pass the time, because when he would be done, he still had the vertical blue lines, and the white's squares in between. It was a long-term work. But it needed to be done. He could call the company after, to let them know exactly how many amount of colors they used. He was trying to convince himself that it was a nice Thursday activity, when his phone rang.

"Hello, Sam? It's your dad. You called yesterday? Sorry, I had a meeting because the boss wanted us to see the new place where we'll begin to work next week. They want to build a train station, and my company got the contract! Can you believe it? It means at least 6 months of work for me! It's not far from home… I mean, it's truly a gift from God. Good things come for those who work for it, son!"

Sam was truly happy for his dad. After all the struggles the Evans family had last year, all of this was well deserved.

It started in January 2011. At first, Dwight Evans was supposed to have a full-time job, at the Nixon Architecture Firm. Since they moved to Lima in August, he was the last one to join the big Nixon family.

Then the recession happened. The bosses at the firm were giving him fewer hours, but they were still doing the best they could. Everybody was being cut, but since he was the last one in, he was the one who had to take most of the aftermath. Mary was not working at the time, but seeing the condition his husband was in, she started searching for an incoming, just in case something bad happened.

But her researches didn't seem to be fructuous. She didn't have much experience, since she worked as a secretary for a short amount of time, before she got pregnant with Sam. They admired the women who could still work and take care of their kids, but they wanted Mary to be at home with their son. Both of them made the decision that when Sam would be old enough, she would go back to work. But then, she got pregnant with their twins, Stacey and Stevie, so her plans were delayed. But now that Stacey and Stevie were old enough, she searched for a job. As expected, there seemed to be no one who wanted to engage a woman with only experience from 10 years earlier.

After Christmas, Dwight was simply cut off. The post-holidays season was always the worst, no matter which work area you were in. The Evans were preoccupied by the fact the money wasn't coming, but they hide it from their kids. They were too young to be worried about money.

One day, they received a letter from the cable company, saying that they forgot to pay their 2 last months. Mary, as a mother, had rather see her kids with full stomachs, instead of them spending their nights in front of a screen, so she made the decision accordingly. She was mad at herself, because she cut one of her child's pleasures. Or course it was the right decision, but still. The company then stopped their subscription, but it was okay, _it was only TV._ Sam didn't seem to mind, but Stacey and Stevie took the loss pretty hard. How were you supposed to explain to two 8 years old that they couldn't afford to have the cable anymore?

After that, it kept getting worse.

Cellphones had to be returned to the company, the trips to Goodwill were frequent, and they couldn't afford anything other than no-brand items at the grocery store. They sold their second car and tried their best to pay the bills with the money they got from it.

The worst thing happened to them in March. Dwight and Mary did their best to search for jobs, but nobody was hiring. They had interviews, but Dwight had too much experience for the job while Mary did not have enough. Money wasn't coming while bills kept on pilling.

The electricity bill has not been paid, so they just cut it off. They came, one day, when the kids were at school and the parents were off to searching jobs. Sam came home first that day, since he didn't have any Glee club meeting, and switched the kitchen lights but nothing happened. He thought that it could've been a broken light bulb, so he tried the living room's one.

Nothing.

No electricity.

He tried his best to stay calm, but his parents couldn't even be reached… What was he supposed to do? Even if he wanted to be a man, taking care of the situation…he was still a teenager. He had no idea what to do. He had to feed himself and his siblings, make them do their homework, tuck them to bed… without any lights, or even hot water?

Fortunately, his parents came before Stacey and Stevie. They were as disappointed as him when they found out.

They didn't want to admit it, but they had hit rock bottom. Mary held back her tears and called the electricity company, who told her to call her bank. She reached the National Bank of Ohio, and she tried to get them to understand that times were hard.

_But Mrs. Evans, it's a rough time for everybody. Find yourself 3.000 dollars, and we'll give you the electricity back. You need to also find the money for your mortgage payments. You are already several months late. You have 2 days, or a bailiff will come to your house. We're really sorry, but there's nothing we can do for you. _

They tried everything. T

hey tried their best, but they couldn't afford it. They tried to get loans, but which banks would lend money to unemployed persons? They tried to live without electricity, but it was harder than it looked. It was only a day since it was cut, but all of the food in the refrigerator was already rancid. They had to put in the garbage almost everything. Mary and Dwight tried their best to keep their composure in front of the kids… but they were so ashamed. They were supposed to take care of their children, and they weren't even able to get them a roof above their heads. They felt like they had failed as parents.

Sam knew he had to do something, so he pulled some strings and got a job at the pizza parlor, but _of course_, it wasn't enough.

When the company said 2 days, they really meant 2 days.

It as a Wednesday and it was storming outside. Mary was inside, trying to do some clean-up while there was still light, when a man in a suit knocked. He was standing there, on their doorstep, a letter in his hands. He was only delivering letters, almost like a mailman. For him, it was a day like any other; it was his job. For the Evans' family, it was the worst day of their life.

_Since the debts you have to the National Bank of Ohio are too elevated, we have to retake the amount of money in totality or possessions we loaned to you. You have 24 hours to pack your belongings and leave before we take back the house. We are really sorry for the inconvenience._

Just like that, the bank took their house back.

Nothing else.

Just a letter.

It was real now. They were really homeless. They didn't have a place to live anymore. Sure, it sucked before, but they still had their house, they had something that they still owed.

Mary tried her best to keep some kind of composure in front of her kids, but it was the end. She told them everything, and without any further do, they packed their stuff, put them in the car and found a cheap motel to live in.

Sure Sam had still his job, but they were still living in that motel. The money he was bringing in was for food, room payment or gas for job searching. His parents still haven't found anything. And it wasn't because they weren't searching. They were checking places, even fast food restaurants, outside of Lima. Everywhere. They were doing their best. But how do you feel when you can't have a proper income to take care of your family? And all of your cash was coming from your 16 year old son's job?

It was only until August that things became good for them. An old friend from high school, John Peterson heard about the Evans' situation, through a cousin who had passed Dwight in interview, but finally didn't require his services. The man was devastated about the turning of events. Since they had been good friends with both Mary and Dwight, John pulled some strings and got Dwight a job in the construction where he was. Only problem? It was in Kentucky.

It was a hard decision, because the kids had made friends here, Sam had a wonderful girlfriend… but they needed an income. They weren't living. They were surviving in that motel room.

Without any look back, the Evans' packed their stuff and left Lima for a better life.

- Sam, are you still there?

- Yeah, I'm really happy for you Dad, you deserve good things.

- Thank you, but we have to stop talking about me! Let's be serious, you called me yesterday and you didn't seem so good. What's going on?

- It's Mercedes. She just… she broke up with me. But at the same time, she promised me that she would always love me… She just said that it was better for us to part for this year. She even suggested that I found a new girlfriend. Can you believe it? Why would she say that? It doesn't make any sense!

- Sam, I'm really sorry… but since when teenagers in love take decisions that make sense? I know it's hard, but it's going to be fine. I'm not really good with words, but give her time. I know how much you love her, and how much she loves you… Everything should be okay in the end.

- Because if it's not okay, it's not the end.

- Exactly! She'll come back around Sammy. She won't be able to stay away from your Evans' charm for long!

Both men laughed softly, and fell into a comfortable silence, yet that meant so much. Sam knew his dad's silence was worth a thousand words. The Evans' men weren't known for their way with words. He tried his best not to cry, he had done enough of that since yesterday.

When he got home last night with Burt and Carole, they wanted to know what happened. He simply told them that he and Mercedes weren't an item anymore and that he better go to sleep. The parents shared a concern look, since it was only 5h30, but they respected his decision, and let him go. He went upstairs and simply lay on his bed until his cries drifted him to sleep. Near ten o'clock, Carole felt conscious and went into his room with a plate for him. She knew how bad he must've felt, but he still needed to eat something. They didn't talk that much, but she smiled and looked into his eyes.

- _ It's going to be okay._

Even if his mom was miles away, he had a second one in Lima. He silently hugged her as he let a tear roll down his cheek. Carole stroked his hair, and Sam fell asleep within minutes. He woke only at 2 this afternoon.

Two rough knocks were at the door, followed by a "Sam?"

_Burt._

- Dad, just wait a second.

Sam stood up from the chair he was sitting in, and made his way to the door.

- Oh, I didn't know you were on the phone! Sorry to bother you, but when you have a minute, could you come and see me? I have to talk to you.

Sam nodded and smiled at the man before him. Burt looked like he wanted to say something, but he frown and pointed at Sam's phone. He mouthed "Someone's talking" and laughed while making his way downstairs.

- Sam? SAM?

- Dad?

- Was it Burt? If so, tell him I said hi! Look, I'll let you talk to him, you can call me later, or when you need it. We love you.

- Tell everybody I said hi, and that I miss them!

- Sure!

Sam hung up and dried his sweaty palms on his jeans. He was nervous about Burt's talk. Would he want him to go? Since Finn left, and Kurt was trying to get to New York, maybe they would ask him to back to Kentucky. Maybe it was all over? He took a deep breath, and also made his way downstairs, into the living room.

- Burt? You wanted to talk?

Burt closed the TV, stood up from his chair and made his way towards Sam. The men were in the middle of the living room, both looking like they were searching for words that didn't want to come out. Burt was rubbing his neck, wondering how he would sort out all that he needed to say.

- Look, I know how hard it must be. The break-up and stuff. I just don't want to you to be depressed. I-I relate to how you feel... When Kurt's mom died, a part of me died too. Our situations are different, because I know Mercedes will come back to you. I didn't have that chance... Of course, I found someone great in Carole, and-and I love her with all my heart… but it doesn't change the fact that I was not myself back then. Don't make the same mistake; don't close your heart to everybody.

- What? You want me to find a new girlfriend?

- God, no, I really love Mercedes. When Kurt told me he was gay, I was sad for a day or two that we would not marry Mercy. She's, she's a great girl… but she might make some stupid decisions. Everybody makes mistakes, you know. She just wants you to find something to keep you sane while she's gone. When I was in your situation, the only thing that seemed to make me feel better was putting myself into work. When I was working, I could focused on something else than my pain. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I know you're starting school this Monday, but when you don't have Glee Club, or football practice, you could help me more at the shop.

- Oh, you want me to work more? If you want to, I could go back to the pizza parlor, so I could give you money…

- Wait up! You think I want money? God, no! I want you to find a way out for your pain. I don't want you to waste your days crying. And I certainly don't want you to be aggressive because you kept everything inside. A man left his car at the garage this morning. The outside is still good, but the mechanics are really bad. It needs a new motor, a new transmission, even the muffler is over… I mean, it's a lot of work. I offered him a small amount of money, and I thought it could be your new project if you want to.

- I don't get it…

- It's your exit. It'll be your way to let the pain out, inside of holding it in. I will help you, but it's YOUR project. You will have to find time, and check for the missing pieces. I'll help with the installation of important parts, but it's your job. If you can repair it, it's yours.

- Really?

- Yes.

- Thank you so much Burt! I can't believe it! You're awesome! Thank you, thank you!

- It's my pleasure.

Sam had to hold himself back or he would have jumped and hug the older man. A man that wasn't even in his family knew exactly what he needed during one of the worst time of his life.

Burt put a hand on his right shoulder and smiled at the boy. Sam was still a teenager, but he had enough heartbreaks and deceptions for a lifetime. Burt saw himself in the boy; they both had to fight for the good things in their lives. They both swallowed their pride more than once, for their family well-being. In his book, that made him even more than a man.

- Oh, and Sam? Don't forget-

- To thank Carole too? Yeah, I was about to do that!

- Um, yeah, but I don't want you to forget to unload the dishwasher, it's your turn today.

* * *

_So, fear not, awesome reader, the sun will shine once again!_

_Thanks for all the reviews and favorites... I love you all so much!_

_Until next time!_

_Genevieve xx_


	7. Call Me Maybe?

_Soooo, new chapter here! I'm introducing the new characters, which you might see a bit more of in the next chapters. Also, I adore Blaine's character, so I thought he could have a nice broship with Sam. Also, this is not filled with angst, so yay!_

* * *

Monday came by faster than Sam expected. Burt's plan to keep him busy actually worked, as he passed his entire weekend at the tire shop. Since he woke up in the beginning of the afternoon every day, he ate, did his chores and made his way to the garage, where Burt was already working.

On Friday, both of them did some check-ups on the vehicle, a dark blue Volkswagen GTI 2001, to make a plan to repair it. They had to find to problems _first_ to fix them.

It didn't have any rust or anything, but it wasn't in great shape. The front bumper was non-existent, the passenger door wasn't opening, the battery was dead, the exhauster was making some infernal sounds, the clutch couldn't be used anymore… it'd be a whole lot of work.

But Burt was right; occupying his hands seemed to free his mind. He almost hadn't cried since he started to work. When he got home, he was too exhausted to have any kind of feelings, besides maybe hunger, so he just took a shower and went to bed to start again the next day.

On Sunday, both of them already had changed the battery, so the car could be started. Yes, it sounded like a helicopter, but things could be fixed.

_Everything could be fixed. _

* * *

When Mercedes and her parents got in touch with the UCLA's headmasters, they had to plan her semester, since she might not have been able to attend ordinary classes. With the recording contract, which needed her presence on every Thursday, Friday and Saturday… things seemed kinda complicated.

Danielle and Gregory made clear that they wanted their daughter to attend school, at least part-time. After lots of phone calls, e-mails and faxes, the Jones and UCLA were able to settle for a compromise. She only had one class she needed to attend, for the first semester, which was with Gabrielle Wyler.

The woman, not even 30 yet, already worked as a music producer with big names of the industry and decided to give some of her knowledge to future artists. Her class majorly consists of vocal coaching, breathing techniques... in short; the class will mainly improve Mercedes' vocal abilities. It was not a lot of work, but Mercedes' parents wanted their daughter to be responsible and still having school whatsoever. She would've two classes of 3 hours each per week, on Mondays at 10am and on Wednesday on 1pm.

Somewhat a little lost between all of the students and teachers, Mercedes finally made her way to the local #310. The classroom was filled with at least 15 boys and girls, making conversations with each other. All of them were seated on chairs or desks, and there was a thin redhead girl seated on the piano. The girl was smiling from ear to ear while singing beautifully to a simple rendition of some pop song the piano man was playing.

"Excuse me; is this Mrs. Wyler's class?"

The girl left her head and seemed surprise by Mercedes' presence, but got off the piano, making her way towards her. She smiled and extended her hand for her to shake it.

Her hand shake seemed little bit too excited to Mercedes, and also a little bit too long. Both of the girls were looking at each other, discreetly studying the person in front of them. Isn't it what everybody does when you first see them? Not in a mean way, of course, but we always try to gage what the person is like by first impressions, thanks to high expectations given by modern society.

The girl didn't have many features that would distinguish her from the average young American thin girl, besides her bigger nose, ginger hair and freckles. She was taller than Mercedes, but then again, who wasn't? She was wearing a beautiful red and white stripped sundress, with white sandals.

"Yes, it's here! Nice to meet you, I'm Emily! Emily Adams-Schmidt. Are you the new girl?" Emily seemed absolutely thrilled to see a new person. Mercedes was surprised, even though she wasn't a shy person; it's just the fact that she was in another city, and she didn't know anyone. People from LA weren't known to be welcoming, so she had some apprehensions towards them.

"I think so… my name's Mercedes. Mercedes Jones. "Mercedes pulled back her hand and cleared her throat. Emily looked at the floor for a moment, smiled and made eye contact again.

"You're gonna love it here! Most of us already know Mrs. Wyler, since she went to our high school before, to introduce the program, and stuff... how did you get here?" The smile on Emily's face never seemed to fade. She appeared to be one overly joyful kid.

"Hum, well, I got a recording contract, because of my boyfriend, I mean my ex-boyfriend, well he-he posted a video of a performance I did in our Glee Club... The company, _Duvinyl_, they liked my video and they offered me a contract. As a back-up singer for a band, they're called _Collyde_."

"NO WAY! Really?! Oh my god, my brother's in that group, can you believe it? He's the drummer! It's-It's amazing!" If there weren't any other people in the room, Mercedes swore Emily would've jump up and down form excitation. She was… something else. She frowned before talking again. "But don't be surprise; we're not really alike."

"Oh, he's not super excited about everything?" Mercedes chuckled and wondered if she went too far for a girl she met 5 minutes ago. Her wonderings stopped when Emily laughed loudly and pat her hand on Mercy's arm.

"Hahaha, no, you'll see why! You really are funny Mercedes! We will be great friends, I feel it!"

Before she could say anything else, Emily grabbed Mercedes' arm and they made their way to the group of people at the back of the room. One look at the group, and she had a feeling she might not blend in. Of course, she felt just like any other teenager towards a new group of persons, but still. What if they didn't connect on anything, besides music? What if they didn't like her? Are they going to be nice people, or just a bunch of d-bags? She felt like she was standing out from all of them. Of all the students, Mercedes was the only black person. Also she might've been the only girl who seemed to enjoy eating.

Her parents always taught her about the importance of seeing beyond appearances; she knew that she shouldn't judge a book by its cover. It's just that all the girls were all size 2, wearing dresses, and heels, and never ending lashes and stupidly long hair. As for the boys, they all looked like they just got out from some teenage boy band's photo shoot. She looked at what she was wearing and sighed.

Before leaving her apartment this morning, Puck approved her outfit by a "get 'hem, Hot Mama!", his mouth full of cereals, sitting at their newly bought table. It was simply _Mercedes_; a pair of dark jeans with some holes in it, a stripped grey and white t-shirt, jewelry and some sneakers. Nothing complicated, but it was a nice outfit. Maybe not as fashion as the rest of them, but she liked it. Just as she was about to try to make a conversation with some of the girls, a tall brown haired woman made her way in the class.

"Okay everybody, my name's Gabrielle Wyler. I might only be 29, but I surely know what I'm doing. If you want to doubt my abilities, why don't you Google my name? You'll see, I'm in thanks section of most of albums from Epic Records launched recently." She was gracefully walking in front of all of them, studying their faces, while making her heels clatter on the floor and smirking at their astonished faces.

"Just so you know, I'm a nice person, but don't try to be an ass-kisser. If you have talent, which you obviously have if you are here, and you truly want to make it in the industry, I'll do anything I can to help you. Since I'm better with voices than faces, we'll do some vocal warm-ups, just to show me what you can do. After that, we could do some of the things other teachers do, like learning your names and stuff. " Gabrielle took a pile of printed papers, and handed them to all of the students.

"What about some song everybody knows? Titanium, Sia and David Guetta? Since you are 15, I'll make 5 groups of 3, and you'll work the part I'll assign you. " Gabrielle made the teams, randomly, giving people numbers from 1 to 5, asking them to pair up.

Mercedes was in team number four and disappointedly not with Emily. She had been paired with a boy who reminded her of blond, brown eyed Blaine and a raven haired with bright blue eyes, shy looking girl.

"You have 30 minutes to make some sort of harmony. Oh, and we don't use any instruments for this song. Surprise me, but don't disappoint me."

* * *

"Guys! Welcome back!"

When Mr. Schuester made his way to his remaining Glee Club, he was accompanied of the one and only Kurt Hummel.

Sam was already seated at the front row of chairs in the choir room, Artie to his left and Joe to his right. Brittany was with Sugar behind them, and Blaine and Tina were in the back row.

The choir room had never looked this empty. Even with all of the enthusiasm Will could bring, everybody missed their friends or lovers. Sam looked at the chairs and nobody seemed to be excited by the way things were turning. Graduation only had been 2 months, but still. Everybody had changed ever since. He knew he was not the same person he was last June. Back then, he was in love and happy. Now, well, he was still in love.

"Kurt decided to come today and give us a helping hand! I know it must be hard for everyone right now, but we have to get new members if we want to compete at Sectionals! Since we won in Chicago, we're not at the bottom of the food chain anymore. We could do a nice number in the courtyard, and people will want to join us! What do you guys think? Yes or yes?" Mr. Schue was trying way too hard, but they couldn't blame him. The man also lost people he deeply cared about when they graduated. Even if it was creepy for a 30ish male to hang out with teenagers, the man made a difference in their lives. Will only wanted to keep on helping those kids just like he did the last few years.

"Yeah, totally, I mean, it's a good thing to impress the potentials new members. We want them to _want_ to be here."

"Mr. Schue, I think it's a great idea. We could do something really catchy, some song everybody knows, you know? " Blaine was overly excited, and stood up from his chair and made his way besides Will and Kurt.

"We could try _Call Me Maybe_? It's a great song, it's catchy, and people will like it! We could totally get new members with that!"

It's stupid. He shouldn't be moved by a song called _Call Me Maybe_. He's not that kind of guy, who cries over teenage pop songs. Or was he? It was only a dumb song.

There are some moments in your life, when you just forget your pain, or any of the bad things. You allow yourself some inner peace, you let yourself be calm, even though your heart is breaking. You feel like your day could go correctly, but something come and just switches everything.

He woke up this morning, and he was feeling okay. Not fantastic, but not awful either. He looked at himself in the mirror and said to his reflection "_Today's gonna be a good day."_ He made sure his mind was preoccupied, like when he was in English, instead of daydreaming, he concentrated on the reading. He convinced himself that he would've a normal day, which actually worked. Until Blaine decided on THIS song, the song he and Mercedes couldn't stop singing. When they cooked, when they took a shower, when they were in her car... This stupid song was everywhere.

"Mr. Schuester, I have to take some air outside, I don't feel too good." Sam took his bag and made his way outside, under the astonished eyes of his friends and Will's concerned look.

"Why does he look so sad? It's a great song." Brittany had no idea what was going on with Sam. Actually, nobody did. Last time people heard about Mercedes and Sam's relationship, it was going great. No one knew about the current state, besides Blaine and Kurt who obviously found out, being at the Hudmel's estate all the time.

Artie sighed and rolled towards where Sam left before Blaine stopped him.

"I'll do it."

Blaine jogged to the hallway, searching for his blond teammate. When he finally found him, Sam was walking towards the exit of the school, head down.

"Hey Sam? Sam? SAM! Wait up!" Sam lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at the call of his name. He wasn't crying, but he was definitely close to. His eyes were puffy, and his cheeks were red from the pressure. He hold on his backpack like his life depended on it.

"Look, I know we might not have started our friendship on good terms..." Blaine looked away from Sam's gaze and stared at his feet, while he thought about their early beginning. As soon as he came back from Kentucky to rejoin the New Directions, Sam was somehow threatening with his ideas. He suggested that they needed to use their "assets" to win the competition. Blaine was offended by this, since he knew that ND had all the potential to win without these kinds of things. And because they were two teenage hormonal boys, they never really talked about their altercation afterwards. However, Blaine felt guilty about never truly apologizing to him. Sam didn't deserve everything Blaine told him, but the two of them never actually had the chance to make things clear. "It might seem out of nowhere, but I have to get this out of my chest. I'm really sorry for the assumptions I made about you and your stripping. I judged you, and I shouldn't have. You know, I heard the complete story, and I don't know if I could've done the same for my family. I-I really admire you... "

"But Blaine, it was like, last year?" Sam was truly confused by Blaine's confessions. Why, after all this time, the guy had to apologize? Yes, Sam had been hurt by the words, but life goes on.

"I had to tell you how sorry I am. So if that's okay for you, I'd really like for us to be friends."

"Yeah, man, that'd be great." Sam grinned and put up his fist for a well-deserved bro-fist.

"Okay, so now that we're friends, I can be totally honest with you? And you won't be mad at me? Like you won't shut me out?"

"We've been friends for less than a minute and you want to be all serious? What did I get myself into?" Both of them chuckled, but Blaine spoke up in a sober tone.

"I know what happened with Mercedes. I think she made a mistake… have you talked to her since you had the letter?"

"Not exactly… I haven't texted or called her since she moved. But she didn't either! I liked Puck's Facebook status, which she was tagged in, so… that counts? "

"Sam, that doesn't mean anything. Since she's the one who broke things up, she won't make the first step. It's still Mercedes Jones we're talking about here! I think you should definitely take some news; it's been what 4, 5 days? The worst that could happen is that she won't answer. " Blaine pat Sam's shoulder and both of them agreed on going back to Glee's rehearsal.

_Sam Evans would call Mercedes Jones tonight._

* * *

"Mercedes, your note at the end of our part literally blew me away. It was so… perfect! We totally nailed the assignment!" Abigail, the raven teammate Mercedes was paired up with turned out to be a really nice girl. She also came from a small town, but she lived at her grandparent's place for the school year, and spent the summer at her parent's house in Iowa. "Hey, the girls would like to go grab a coffee tonight, would you like to come with us? You know, to know everyone better, but I'm sure they'll like you! Besides from Melrose but don't take that personally; she just doesn't like people in general."

"Haha, I get it! But the coffee would be great! Where do you want to go?"

"There's a coffee shop not far from here, it's called _Brew Factory. _It's on Crescent, but you should Google the exact address. We wanted to meet at 7 or something, would that be okay? Look, text me if you can't find it." Abigail grabbed her phone and entered _new contact_ for Mercedes to fill.

"Thank you! See you there!" Mercedes smiled at the girls, waved and made her way to her apartment.

* * *

"Noah, did you even worked today? You're still in your pajamas…" Puck was lying on the couch, in some joggings and watching TV when Mercedes came home. She took off her purse and put it on the floor, besides her sneakers.

"Mercy, I did much cleaning today. I cleaned myself before cleaning Mrs. Campbell pool. Then, I helped her cleaned herself, because she got all dirty, if you know what I mean." Puck winked and grinned at a disgusted Mercedes.

"Really Puck? TMI!" Puck laughed at Mercedes's antics and told her that dinner was in the oven. Well "dinner" was actually a frozen pizza he bought, but still.

"I'll take a quick shower and fix us a salad to go with it. Oh, I'm going out with some girls of my class later. So, don't wait up tonight!" She grabbed a towel and made her way to the bathroom. Mercedes was halfway undressed and starting the water when Puck called from the other room.

"Mercy? MERCY? I THINK YOUR PHONE IS RINGING!"

Crap. It may be Abigail, calling to cancel plans for tonight. She put the towel around her body and ran to her purse in the lobby, where she left it earlier. She took her iPhone in her hands and stared at the name on the screen. With everything that happened she hadn't changed the name or the ID caller, or even the ringtone.

_Sammy! 3 Calling._

_ "Baby it's youuuuu, you're the one I loooooove!" _

Why did he call? Was he going to be mad? Sad? Or tell her that things were completely over? Did something happened? She only had to unlock her phone to get answers to her questions. Her mind wanted to slide and make things clear, while her fingers didn't seem to obey.

_"You're the one I neeeeeeeeed"_

Puck looked at her with a confused face, mouthing a "Who is it?", but Mercedes couldn't say anything. She stared at the screen and realized that it had been ringing for a while. She didn't want him to hang up, so she took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

She looked at the screen, which was back to the home page.

He hung up. She should've known.

She stared speechless at the phone. He didn't want to talk to her; it surely was an accident, pocket dial maybe? Otherwise he wouldn't have hung up… nor would he?

She sighed and felt the tears coming back, once again. He didn't want to talk to her. She broke his heart; she had no right to expect him to make the effort to call her. Not that she would admit it, but she truly wanted him to call, she wanted to talk to him, about her day, or how she was handling things in LA. She wanted to know how things were going in Lima, which teachers he got, or who was the new Rachel? She was too stubborn to call him. She kept on looking at her screen, wondering what went through his mind when he realized he was calling her. Did he want to talk to her in the first place? And finally chickened out? Or was it an accident? How was HE handling things? Did HE change her name in his phone? Was she still _Mercy! 3_? Or did he change it for something drabber, like _Mercedes Jones_? Or _Coward_?

She was about to put her phone back in her purse when it vibrated again. Sam kissing her cheek while she was smiling at the camera was the ID caller. He called her again? It wasn't an accident? Her heart was now beating at a faster pace. _Calm down Jones. It's only a phone call, you can totally do this. _

_"Baby it's youuuuu, you're the one I loooooove!" _She took a deep breath and unlocked her phone.

"Sam?"

"Mercy! Hum, hi! The first call didn't work, because I heard like 3 rings and then it didn't went to voicemail, like it just ended. I thought you hung up on me, but then I was wondering why you would be so mean, not that you are mean, it's just… yeah. So, I tried again, so yeah... Hum, am I bothering you? I hope not." He cleared his throat and embarrassedly chuckled. "Hum, Blaine convinced me to call you. Well, not convinced, cause, you know… I like to talk to you. So yeah, I'm calling. " Sam awkwardly giggled at his clearly shyness, face palming. He must've sounded like an idiot. He knew he should've waited, or at least practicing another time what he wanted to say; 24 times didn't seem to be enough, finally.

She softly laughed at his discomfort. He was so dorky and adorable and God!; _how she had missed him. _He didn't seem to hate that much, which was a good start. She didn't know where this conversation would go, but things seemed to be much better ever since she heard his voice. She couldn't help the smile that was forming on her face.

"Sam…I gotta say…I'm really glad you called. "

* * *

_Sooooo, this chapter was written before I saw the first episode, so I don't know if I'll try to keep up with how the show goes, or if I'll do it like following my first ideas. _

_Annnnyyyyway, thank you all so much for following and reviewing this story, I truly appreciate it._

_Per say, I do know that I might not be super talented compared to other awesome writers, but I really wanted to bring something to the Samcedes fandom. _

_I'm trying to improve my writing skills, so if you have any constructive comments, you are VERY welcome to say them. ;)_

_Genevieve_


	8. New Beginnings

_Okay, first of all, sorry for the delay! Real life got in the way, so I did not take much time to write as I would have wanted to._

_Also, I completely forgot to tell you who portrayed my characters, just to help you imagine who they are. First of all, Gabrielle Wyler (the teacher) would be Emmy Rossum. She played in Shameless US recently, but she had a role in the Phantom of the Opera, she's actually a great singer! Secondly, Emily would be played by Jacqueline Emerson, Foxface in the Hunger Games' movie. Also, Melrose, would be played by Isabelle Furhman, who played in The Orphan. In this chapter, I'm introducing more of Emily's backstory._

_This chapter was officially the worst to write. There's nothing that special into it, which is why I struggled… There's some Samcedes interaction, but I'm mostly talking about their history. Soooo, hoping you'll enjoy it!_

* * *

"So then, Blaine was like "_that didn't count'. _I didn't want to admit it, but I mean, he got a point there!" Blaine's impression by Sam was almost on point, which made Mercedes laugh even harder than before. "And then, as soon as I got home, Kurt was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, looking at me… All that sass, directly attacking me! I mean, his eyebrow rose so high, I swear, it was almost touching his hair!"

"Hahaha, Sam, stop! Don't do an impression of him, my tummy can't take it anymore!' Mercedes held her phone between her ear and her shoulder, laying on her bed, still in her towel. "You know, it's not my fault, Kurt always have been that way, and I swear, I did not participate in the creation of that monster of sassiness!"

The two of them started awkwardly their conversation about half an hour ago but they were fine by now. Silences had been replaced by laughs, and they were finally comfortable with the other. While the conversation went on, nothing seemed to have changed, but they both knew at the back of their mind that nothing was the same. They could almost believe that it was just like before. It was just like when Sam called Mercedes, because he saw something that reminded him of her, or when she just called him to say goodnight.

"Sam, it was great talking to you, and I don't want to hang up… but the truth is, I was about to take a shower and eat, because I'm seeing some girls of my class tonight."

"Oh no, that's fine. I hope you're going to have fun! I love y-" Sam stopped suddenly. It was so easy falling into those patterns. The way he felt seconds ago, it was not real. They were not together. It seems so right to just say how much he loved, it's like she was still minutes away from here. However, there was still 2,000 miles that separate them… Things had changed; how was he supposed to end this call? Greetings were too… formal. "Hum, text me when you have a moment, I mean, if you want to."

"Sure! You can text me too, you know, if you feel like it. Hum… good night." With an awkward chuckle, and mostly a heavy heart, Mercedes hung up the phone and sighed. She clearly heard his struggle not to say their usual _I love you_. Truth is… she also had to fight the urge to say it too.

* * *

"What? You're only 16? How did you get in UCLA? It's a University, I mean; you have to at least be done with High School to actually attend classes?" Mercedes was staying open-mouthed at Emily's revelations. The group of girls got to the coffee shop about an hour ago, and they haven't stopped talking since they got in. They were 5 of them to finally make it. Contrary to what Mercedes thought earlier, most of the girls were nice and fun, besides Melrose. She had been invited, but didn't talk ever since she got there. She just sat at the back, sipping on her latte, making disgusted faces at any other answers; truly an exquisite companion.

"What can I say? I was a gifted kid!" Emily laughed at the shocked faces of her classmates. "You know, when I was younger, my moms got me in special schools so I could learn more and faster, which ended up in me graduating like 3 years sooner. I got tutors and stuff… In fact, I'll actually turn 17 in two weeks. My passion is really music, you know, both of my moms made me take piano and singing lessons, and I'm-"

"Wow, I think that's my cue to leave. " Melrose mad a disgusted face, as she surprised everyone by grabbing her stuff and left _Brew Factory._

"Ooookaaaaaay. What just happened?" Mercedes was really dumbfounded by the scene that just happened in front of her eyes. Nothing was going wrong; the girls were simply talking… why did Melrose stormed out?

Every girl seemed uncomfortable by what happened, but no one spoke. Abigail shared a look with another girl, Livia, if Mercedes remembered correctly, and they stayed silent while the obvious discomfort grew around the table. Emily sighed and spoke up.

"You know when we told you that Melrose wasn't really a nice person? Well, that was Exhibit A." Emily seemed to gather all of her courage for what was coming next. "I have two moms; Nicole and Gloria." When no one stopped her, she breathed deeply and stared at Mercedes.

"I mean, I know we are in 2012, but they are still many people who don't accept my parent's choices. Melrose is coming from a small town; where people are narrow-minded, and she has been teach to hate gay people. For them, it's a sin. It's their choice to live that way, so they must suffer the consequences of it…Pure bullshit, in my opinion."

"I understand. I'm not gay myself, but my best friend is. I know it was hard for him. He had to transfer school because he was bullied… It must not have been easy. " Mercedes put her hand above Emily's, encouraging her to continue.

"My brother is 5 years older than me. So picture this, two lesbians having a son, in the early 90's. It was really uncommon; neighbors were judging the lifestyle "they had chosen", the way they raised my brother… Anyway, so when he got into preschool, kids were picking on him. He was like 4 or 5 years old, and the kids were cruel to him. They bullied him, teased him… only because he didn't have a dad; he had two moms. So when my mom's heard about that, they got him into another school, where violence was not tolerated. I attended this school too, but that's why I graduated early; it had advanced programs."

"So, if I understand, Melrose is being a bitch because your parents are gay?"

"Well, yeah. But it started like a year ago, or so. I knew Melrose, because we used to work at the same shop at the mall, and she used to be nice to me. Usually, it was my mom Nicole who would come and get me, but then one day, she couldn't, so it was my mom Gloria who came. When Melrose asked me who she was, I told her that it was my other mom, and she just ignored me. She talked about that to everybody, and almost forced them to hate me. Many of the people I knew turned their back on me because of what she told them… "

"Seriously? You've got to be kidding me." Mercedes was in shock at the revelations about Melrose. She looked like a mean girl, but why would she do something so cruel?

"Nope, dead serious. And today, when class first started, I was talking with Livia, and she told her that it might not be a good idea to be my friend, because my parents are gay." Emily rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Just like that?" Livia nodded and spoke.

"Yes, and I just looked at her like she grew a second head; I mean, what kind of Christian is she? Praising about how important it is to love the next one, but hating them as soon as they don't believe the same stuff as her? Or if the persons are not the same color as her, or the same size, they are not worth her time?! I don't know, she's a bitch. " Livia laughed and shrugged. "I mean, whatever! Can we just stop talking about her?" Everybody seemed relieved at Livia's request, and they decided to move on with their conversation.

"Hey, Mercedes, Emily told us how you got a record deal with her brother's band! It has something to do with your boyfriend, right?" Abigail seemed truly interested in Mercedes' journey to get to LA.

"Well, actually, he's now my ex-boyfriend." She gave a sad smile to the girls. Her eyes were fixed on her mocha, and she somehow got lost in her thoughts. She did the best thing by setting him free…didn't she?

"Do I have to go and kick some ass?" Livia asked, half-serious.

"What? Oh no, actually, I'm the one who ended things. We previously had a long-distance relationship, but I broke it off. He moved to Kentucky with his family last summer, so… It was better to just end what we had. Just when I convinced myself that it was only a summer fling, and that it didn't matter… he came back." Mercedes half-smiled and her gaze went back to her hands around her semi-hot beverage.

"So you guys got back together then?" Abigail asked, quite hopeful about the future of this story.

"Not exactly. I thought he was the one that got away, so I tried to move on and dated this other guy, Shane, who was really nice to me... But long story short, he came back to help some friends for a Glee Club competition." Mercedes smiled at the memory of their first encounter, and looked at her new friends. "The first thing he did when he came back was holding my hand. I told him I had moved on, which I half-did, but he didn't need to know that. I mean, I really liked Shane and I didn't want to hurt anyone… So he looked at me and said, and I quote, "_I don't care how big or bad your boyfriend is. I'm gonna fight to get you back." _ And he did. Not in the best ways, but he did. "

Abigail had a hand on her heart, almost containing some tears. "This is so beautiful. What happened after?"

"Hum, I tried my best to ignore the feelings I had, since I was still in a relationship with Shane. We were in Glee Club, and every week, we had some "theme", and everybody had to come with something related to it. One week, we had a Michael Jackson's assignment and Sam and I did a duet of _Human Nature_." Mercedes bit her bottom lip, and could feel the heat coming up to her cheeks. "And…. we kissed after the performance. " Mercedes smiled and looked at her friends. "It was wrong, and it made me a cheater, thing I never thought I'd be. But, at the same time… it was everything I wanted, even if I was too ashamed to admit it to myself. The feelings of his lips against mine, the way he held my cheek with his giant hands, his breath against my skin… I missed it, so much. " Mercedes took a sip of her mocha and sadly smiled.

"In one sense, it was perfect… My only love, I mean… he came back. He still loved me. It was just… not the right time. I mean, I cheated, and it made me feel awful... Shane did not deserve this. So, then I talked to him, and told him what I did, and I broke things off. I really liked Shane, but he never had my heart completely. I tried to put all of myself into that relationship, but I think he was sadly my rebound. He was a great guy, and he told me that he knew. The second Sam was back in town, he knew that it would never be the same between him and me. He told me that he wish I'd be happy with Sam. I really cared about him, even though I did not love him. "

"So, you and Sam got together then?" Emily asked, wondering if this story would stop being filled up with angst.

"No." Mercedes gaze at the three girls around the table and they all looked at her with disappointed looks. Abigail's eyes were screaming _"really?!"_ while Livia and Emily were practically begging Mercedes to give them their happy ending. "I told him that I felt really weird about all of this, and that I needed time to figure out who I really was, before putting myself into another relationship. It happened on Valentine's Day. We had to sing the greatest love songs, in our opinion, so I sang him _I Will Always Love You.._. I needed him to know that I loved him, but I needed time. He understood, and gave me space. After that, I spent days crying in my room, because I loved him so much, but I couldn't stand being with him, because it reminded me how much of a bad person I was. So, we stopped talking for a while." Mercedes closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"It was the worst. Knowing he was there, 10 minutes away from me, but I couldn't see him. " She opened her eyes and fixed her gaze once again on her now cold mocha.

"We didn't talk at all. No texts, no calls, we didn't sit next to each other in Glee Club… it sucked. Almost 3 weeks later, my Glee Club teacher wanted me and two of my friends to take some decisions about our future. We were the only three seniors who didn't have any ideas what to do after high school. I mean, I had no idea what to do with my life. Everybody had plans they really enjoyed, and I was there, getting into a school I would mostly dislike, only to have something to do. So, we performed some songs from _Saturday Night Fever _and I did _Disco Inferno._ It was so much fun! I did the performance with two of my best friends, I mean, we were great! You know what Sam did? He taped the performance." She shook her head smiling, and kept on talking. "He then posted it on YouTube, and there were hundreds of comments, all about how good I sounded… The feeling, it was amazing. People really liked what I did; it made me feel so… special? I don't know… I mean, he did it, only to make me feel better about my concerns for the future. He swore he didn't mean anything by it; he truly wanted to be nice. Sam is like that; he would do anything for his friends, just to make them feel better. He then showed me the video and told me how proud of me he was, and how he believed in me, that I shouldn't be concerned about details. And I just knew. I knew that I still loved him, and I was ready for our relationship. So…. We kissed and got back together then." Mercedes was smiling ears to ears, remembering how she felt at this exact moment.

"Okay, when you're famous, and doing some autobiography, you HAVE to sell this story, so they can make a movie out of it. l would totally watch that. It's beautiful and Jesus! I have so many feelings about you two." Emily had a hand on her chest, smiling, her eyes sparkling with emotion. "Do you have any picture of him?"

Mercedes grabbed her phone in her purse, and unlocked it. She realized that she still hadn't changed her background photo. Sam was sleeping in her bed, his hair falling on his forehead, his mouth unintentionally pouting. She gave her phone to the girls and smiled. "Well, there's this one. It was like 2 weeks ago; I woke up first, and he was sleeping, and I don't know, he was so... handsome? So anyway, I snapped this!"

* * *

"Mr. Evans, may I speak to you, please?" Sam raised his head from his book and crossed the concerned gaze of the new Spanish teacher, Mr. Martinez.

Sam looked at the clock and saw that the bell would ring in about 2 minutes, so he grabbed his things and made his way to his teacher desk. "Is everything okay, Mr. Martinez?"

David Martinez half-smiled and beckoned to Sam's to grab a chair and sit next to him. Well, half-smiling with his million teeth was pretty much just smiling, but still, he didn't look completely happy. "Look, I know the school just started, and as you know I'm a new teacher, so I do things a little differently. I looked in all of my student's files, to see how they were doing with the material, you know, to be sure my lessons would follow what you already learned." Sam frowned at his teacher, and wondered what it had to do with him. Realizing his gibberish might not make sense, David went on. "What I'm trying to say is, I searched for some void the teacher from the previous years might have done, or you know, to know if everything was up to date in the learning area."

"Okay… but, why did you have to talk to me about that?" Sam's eyebrow rose and his lips were pouting. It was only Thursday of their first week of the year, why the teacher was so interested in his knowledge? "No offense, Mr. Martinez, but I'm improving in Spanish since last year. We haven't even done any test so…"

"That's where you're wrong. On the first day, I pass you some papers with questions; they were a way for me to see where you were standing concerning your knowledge in my subject. " Grabbing a paper from his drawer, he sighed. He put the sheet in front of Sam and showed him what he meant. "Sam, your answers are mostly wrong. It's supposed to be simple sentences, but you seem to mix the letters, or something. I know you're a senior, so you need at least this class to have your diploma."

"But, we just started the year Mr. Martinez! You don't have any ideas how hard it is, with school, and work, and relationships, and…" Sam was cut off by a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Oh no, don't take this personal Sam. I just prefer to give you some hints about what might happen. You know that it will only be harder with time, don't you? And with your history of dyslexia, I would rather warn you than seeing too late your struggles. Do you understand?"

Sam couldn't do anything but swallow his pride and smile at his teacher. He knew the man only meant well, but Sam didn't want to handle any more stress right now. "Yes, I'll try to do my best, Mr. Martinez." Sam timidly smiled, put his bag on his shoulder and got out of the class. He only wanted to go home, eat something and lie in bed until he passed out. He took his cellphone out of his pocket and texted the only person who could make him feel better at this very moment.

_"Hey, Mercy, are you busy? " _Since he called her on Monday, they texted each regularly. It wasn't so awkward after a while, so everything was great. They talked pretty much about everything, besides their relationship, of course. But Sam could deal with that if he could talk to her.

When Sam wondered about anything, Mercedes always seemed to have the answers, which is why he really wanted her advice on the whole Spanish situation. He knew what Mr. Martinez implied when he said that he needed some assistance, but he didn't want to admit it to himself.

_"Nope, on my way to the studio right now. What's up?" _ Even though things were some kind of weird, he was still joyful about her journey. She was going to a recording studio, a real one! She was finally getting some rewarding for her talent, which made him truly happy.

_"Spanish teacher wants me to get a tutor… What should I do?" _

_"I say go for it, it would improve your grades! Anyway, nothing bad can happen with a tutor, right? LOL"_ Sam smiled softly at his phone and realized she was right. Yes, it was hurting his pride, but he would only get benefits from this upcoming tutoring, wouldn't he?

_"You're right. Thanks! Have fun at the studio ;) xxx" _Without waiting for any kind of response, he put his phone back in his pocket and made his way towards his house, since he went to school walking this morning. Just when he reached the outdoors, he felt his phone shaking. He reached for it, and grinned at Mercedes' response. He looked at his screen carelessly and accidently bumped into someone.

"You know, bumping into people while texting is dangerous. Should I remind you of Quinn's accident?" Same raised his gaze to see who he bumped into. To be in shock would be an understatement. Sam couldn't understand what the person in front of him was doing here, at McKinley.

"Puck?!"

* * *

_Dumdumdum! Why is Puck at McKinley? Sooo, what do you think about the tutor's thing? Is is going to help Sam? Anyway, leave me some reviews ;)_

_Until next time!_

_Genevieve xx_


	9. Coffee and Memories

_Hey, what's up guys?_

_Hum, I'm really sorry for the delay. I got caught up in my real life (we moved into a new apartment, no Wi-Fi for a couple of days, meh), and some RP I joined…. Yeah, no excuses, but I hope you guys will still like my fic!_

_I have now a wonderful beta, my wifey Caryn! So if there's any mistakes, please forgive us!_

_Also, did any of you guys watch the new episodes? I can't even describe how this show has become a huge pile of crap. I'm so mad. I mean, Mercedes' back and we don't even get a Samcedes scene? Ryan, I think I need to pay you a visit._

_Okay, and even though the new season is shitty, I decided that I would try this semi-canon thing. New elements, like Jake Puckerman, will be included. Anyway, I'm stopping the rambling._

_Disclaimer : I don't own anything besides my imagination and maybe Noah Puckerman's heart. Hehe._

* * *

The sun had set a long time ago when Mercedes finally arrived home. The recording session was supposed to end at 10, but yet, it was close to midnight when she finally left the studio.

It was her first meeting with the band, and they were actually very cool guys. She met Emily's brother, Nate, and the rest of the group. The style of _Collyde _was not really hers, but she could get used to it. While Mercedes was more of a Rhythm and Blues kind of singer, the band were more Pop-Rock, but they were great. They played a couple of songs, and she actually really liked them. She might need a short period of adjustment, but they could work it out.

She finally got to her front door and stepped inside, oddly finding the apartment quiet and with the lights out. Usually, she could hear Puck's snores through the walls, but the only sound she could hear was the refrigerator fan. She turned on the lights and went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, but when she closed the door; her eyes caught on a bright yellow post-it note, stuck to the front.

She withdrew the paper from the fridge and read what Puck's awful handwriting scribbled on the paper. _"Gone for a few days, Hot Mama! Be back on Saturday. Take care! xx"_

Mercedes opened her bottle and took a sip. If Puck wanted to leave, it was his right. She had nothing to say about it. They were only roommates, after all. Sure they were friends, but he didn't need to detail any of his whereabouts if he didn't want to. She let out a long sigh and played with her fingers.

She was not the kind of girl who was controlling; needing to know everybody's whereabouts all the time. But… she still found Noah's behavior kind of weird. She always had been this way. She didn't want to say it out loud, but she was the friend that cared too much, always wondering if everybody was doing okay.

Ever since they were children, Mercedes and her brother were the oldest Jones kids. So, during any kind of family reunion, Anthony and she were taking care of the youngest ones, which allowed to developed great relationships with them, emphasizing this kind of motherly behavior towards people she deeply cared about.

Noah's note made Mercedes uncomfortable, since they talked this afternoon before she left and everything seemed fine. She didn't want to intrude into his personal life, but she was curious and concerned.

She reached for her cellphone in her jeans' back pocket and dialed his number. As she waited, she stepped on the counter, her legs dangling. After the third ring, Puck answered.

"Hey Puck! I just found your note; I was just calling to be sure everything was okay… " She played with a lock of hair, biting her lip.

Puck chuckled. "Look, don't worry, I'll take a flight to be back on Saturday afternoon, evening tops."

Mercedes kept the phone on her ear, her eyes wide open. He took a flight? Where was he? She could hear Noah sighing through the receiver. "Mercy…Are you mad at me?"

"No, of course not! Why would I be mad?" She bit her lip and sighed. "It's just…I'm worried, that's all. Where are you?"

"Look, it's complicated… I'll explain it to you when I get back. I gotta go. Take care." With that, Puck hung up, leaving Mercedes alone in their kitchen, dumbfounded with the receiver still stuck to her ear.

* * *

The Lima Bean was a popular place, always crowded, mostly with teenagers. Considering it was a Thursday night, Sam and Puck hardly found a spot, but finally got seated at a table in the back, both sipping on their hot beverages. They had been in there for a while, just chatting.

Taking a gulp of his drink, Sam frowned, trying to understand the truth bombs Puck just gave him. "So… If I understand correctly, that Jake dude is your brother?"

Puck smiled and fixed his gaze on his cup between his hands. "Well, we have the same dad. That's what Schue explained to me on the phone."

"And you just took the next flight to talk to this guy?" Sam frowned again, even more confused than before.

"Schue wanted me to speak to him. And he paid the flight, so…" Puck shrugged smiling a bit. Even though he loved LA, he was happy to be back in Lima for a few days. He saw his mom and his sister, and got the chance to swing by to say hello to Beth. He had missed his baby and was glad to have some time with her, even though it was short.

"Wow, okay." Sam sighed, playing with his coffee cup. He bit his lip, wondering if he had the right to ask. The question was burning his tongue ever since he saw Puck.

They got into an awkward silence for a couple of minutes, both of them drinking their beverages, before Sam blurted out. "Is everything okay in LA?", and by _everything_, Sam meant _Mercedes. _

Yes, they were texting, but he had no idea with how she coped with their relationship status. They had small conversation about work, the weather and their mutual friends, but they never got into _this_ conversation. She never really gave him explanations other than her letter. It was a sensible subject, and he never got the guts to ask her about it.

Puck smiled, but didn't get the second degree to Sam's question. "Yeah, it's great. Business going great, ladies are hot, food is good. Our apartment is actually really cool. It's big, but not too much, you know? Mercedes and I didn't fight yet about who should do the chores, so it's great." Puck shrugged, chuckling as he looked at his hot chocolate between his hands. Sam smiled at his friend, even though Puck didn't answer to what he wanted to know. He craved to know what was really happening.

Was she still sleeping with his Captain America t-shirt? (Which he gladly gave to her, because the shield looked like _a thousand times_ better on her chest.) Was she re-reading their old text messages? (But not the sexts, they both agreed it was better to delete them afterwards.) Or looking at their silly pictures? Was she aching to text him good night every time she went to bed?

Because he did. Every time his phone was vibrating, he was silently praying it was her name that would flash on his screen.

Puck cleared his throat, getting Sam out of his thoughts. "Look, I came by and I thought I could grab a coffee with one of my best bros."

Sam chuckled. "LIES! You don't even like coffee, man."

Puck laughed with him, shaking his head. "Hey, you know what I meant." He sighed, still playing with the paper cup in his hands. "Man, I know it might not be my business, but… I needed to talk to you about your relationship. I know Merce-"

"Whoa, what do you mean by that?" Sam was a bit offended about this whole hang-out thing. Was this a masquerade to try to tell him to move on? "Just… I mean, you came here to do some moral speech about our relationship? No offense, but you're right. It's not of your business." Sam didn't mean to sound harsh, but his tone was far from his previous friendly one. He breathed deeply, trying to calm down.

Sam sighed and scratched some invisible dirt on the table with his nails. "Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you, but you know…" Sam ran a hand through his hair, then on his face, sighing. "It's just… She took a decision and I'm living with it, so… I think that's all there is to say. "

The two men stared at each other for a while, in an uncomfortable silence, filled with tension. Puck didn't want to say anything, which might infuriate Sam even more. He settled for drinking the rest of his beverage in silence. Sam, on the other hand, tried to calm down, before he would say something he might regret. After a couple of minutes, the blonde ran his left hand on his face, letting out a deep breath. "Anyway, why do you care that much about our relationship?"

Puck bit his lip, looking torn about what he was about to say. "You're like my best bro, man. And I really like Mercedes; she's like… a _really_ hot non-related sister?" He chuckled, but stopped when he saw the death glare Sam gave him. He cleared his throat and looked at his now empty cup. "Anyway, it's just… I don't know if I'm supposed to say that, but this whole situation is shitty, man. I really want you guys to work things out! It's-"

"Okay, man. I'm going to stop you right there. We're gonna get this straight, once and for all. SHE decided to end things with ME. I didn't have a say in ANY of this." Sam clenched his jaw. "We're done, because SHE said so. I'm pretty much pissed about everything in my life right now, so don't add your "concern" on top of this, okay?" Sam took a deep breath, trying to slow down his heartbeat. "I appreciate your worry about me and my life, but I honestly don't need that right now."

Puck gave Sam a small crooked smile. "I-I'm really sorry to step over your boundaries, man. I didn't mean to." He grabbed his empty cup, his keys and phone and got off the booth. Noah nodded and headed towards the door. He turned and said over his shoulder. "You know, I'm not really great with words or actions... I don't have the ability to fix my own relationships, so I might at least try to help the one of people I care about. I just don't want you to give up like I did."

* * *

After her phone call to Noah, Mercedes decided to take a shower, and to take it easy for the rest of the night. Since it was actually way past midnight, she would probably pop in a movie and fall asleep even before the main character's face appear on the TV, but still.

She took a quick shower and put her pajamas on, which consisted of a pair of black yoga pants and Sam's Captain America t-shirt that she stole many months ago.

Mercedes started playing with the bottom of the fabric, sighing. She bit her lip, trying to fight the familiar sting behind her eyelids.

She truly missed him.

Sam was a big part of her life, and they exchanged a small amount of text messages per week, but that was it. They didn't really call each other after their first phone call, out of shyness. Or awkwardness.

Mercedes was starting to regret her decision, even though she wouldn't admit it aloud. Sam had been her boyfriend, yes, but he also had been her best friend.

Of course she had many friends, but with the end of High School, she could feel that many of those friendships ended too.

Her relationship with Kurt went downhill when he started Blaine. Blaine was a great guy, but the love Kurt felt for him might've blinded him, slowly pushing Mercedes aside. She could understand that his first boyfriend might've take a lot of place in his life, but when Kurt started hanging out with Rachel all the time, Mercedes felt horrible. It was as if she never existed. They started talking again when she was dating Sam, since they were at the Hudmel's household a couple of times a week. But that was it. She didn't even know how he was doing at the moment.

Same went for Santana. They bonded during their Junior Year, but they truly became close when they started the Troubletones. But with her in LA and Santana in St-Louis, things were harder for the undisputed top bitches. Santana had called Mercedes and Puck when they moved in, promising to come and visit. They texted a bit, but it was to keep each other updated on their lives, not to confess or talk about their problems.

As for Quinn… The sisters had seen better days. Something happened in New Haven that made her forget about Mercedes, or the entire Glee club, actually. Last thing she heard about Quinn was that she moved in a dorm, and that she enjoyed the new people that was attending Yale.

Her best friend back there must've been Tina, and even they weren't texting as much as before. She missed her and their nights out, or their double dates with Sam and Mike. She knew how hard it must've been for Tina when she and Mike decided to end things, as she lived almost the same thing at the same time. They skyped here and there, but that was it.

In LA, she had a couple of friends, but it wasn't the same. The girls were very nice, but they weren't Tina, Quinn or Santana. Mercedes never had been one to open to others, especially if she didn't know the people that much.

The more time they spent in LA, Puck slowly became her confident and she became his. They were close, like in a brother/sister kind of relationship. Living together was actually pretty fun, and they bonded on many things.

She and Sam had shared a lot during the time they were together, physically as far as emotionally. He was her first love, and she had been her first serious girlfriend that didn't care about popularity or anything. They were both teenagers, but they grew together and became adults. They completed each other, and she was slowly realizing that she was missing him like crazy. Every small thing reminded her of Sam.

As much as she loved him, Mercedes had to be the bigger person and move on. At least for a while. She sighed and shook her head. It was for the best. She took the remote and seated herself on the couch, placing her legs underneath her, flipping through the channels until she found some re-runs of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

During her junior year's summer, when Sam had to babysit his siblings at the motel, Mercedes joined him and when the kids went to bed, they ended up watching TV. Most of the time, it ended up in watching a couple of minutes of the show and making out until Mercedes had to go home, because of her midnight curfew, but still. They had many memories about this show, which made Mercedes giggle about the souvenir.

Once, they were having a heavy make-out session, one of their first ones actually, Mercedes and Sam couldn't help the moans that escaped their mouths. They were both teenagers and the aching to touch the other was spectacular. Sam was Mercedes's first kiss, so he was obviously her first second base, and third one… And for Sam, well he had a hot girlfriend and he was a teenage boy with needs. They were both virgins at the time, and the urge to undress the other was unbelievable.

They were teasing the other through their clothes, dry-humping on the couch. Well, Sam wasn't wearing a shirt anymore, and Mercedes was only wearing her polka dot bra, thanks to Sam's eagerness. Not that she minded. Sam's hands were on Mercedes' butt cheeks, pinching them through her jeans, while her hands were roaming on his chest and abs, before Sam let out a loud groan. A _loud_ one.

Loud enough to wake Stevie and Stacey up, who were concerned about the reason of their brother's "whining", as they called it. They got dressed as fast as they could, which ended up in Mercedes putting Sam's shirt by inadvertence while he had no other choice but to stay shirtless. Explaining to the kids what was happening while Sam's face was spotting a nice shade of burgundy and with Mercedes that couldn't look at them in the eyes was a _strange_ experience, to say the least.

She watched the show for a couple of minutes, before realizing it was the same episode that they had been caught having noisy make-out session on. Mercedes chuckled and checked the time, seeing that it was 11 something in LA, which meant it was around 8 in Lima. She bit her lip, wondering if she had the right to text him.

They were friends, right? And she was just thinking about him, because of a fun memory, so that was okay to tell him about it, right?

She took her iPhone in her hands, unlocking it and staring at the text message icon. It wouldn't do any harm. They were friends, and it was an amusing thing that they both shared. She bit her lip, and clicked Sam's name in her contact list.

"_Sam, I was watching Fresh Prince, and it reminded me of that time we got caught by the twins, haha. I just thought about it… Anyway, good night Sammy. Xxx"_

She breathed deeply before sending it, still wondering if it was okay to text him that. She closed her eyes, knowing that she couldn't do anything now that it was sent. She placed the phone beside her on the couch, bringing her attention back to the TV. She finally fell asleep, curling on one of the cushion, not before checking her phone for the thousandth time to see if she had received an answer from Sam.

* * *

Sam was currently frowning over some Spanish work his tutor, Eric, gave him. Eric was also a senior and they had a couple of classes together, and he was actually a very cool guy. They bonded over sports immediately, and they both decided that Sam would help him to get into the football team, while Eric helped him improving his grades.

He was conjugating some verbs when his phone vibrated. After his coffee with Puck, he went home and concentrated on school things for the night, trying not to think about everything his mohawked friend said.

He didn't meant to be rude to Puck, but how was he supposed to react? The person he loved the most decided that it was better for them to part, and that he had no right to tell her otherwise. He was mad about the whole situation, but he knew Noah was right.

He couldn't give up on her; he loved her. They were meant to be together, weren't they?

And he knew she had some good motives, or at least that's what he told himself. Just now, he was doing homework and she was probably getting back home from the studio, so they wouldn't even have time to Skype. He passed a hand on his face, letting out a deep sigh. _Good things comes for those who waits, _right?

Sam grabbed his device and unlocked it, seeing that he had a text message from Mercedes. He smiled, happy to see that she had thought about him.

He opened the message, kind of excited to see what she had to say. However, Sam stayed stoic as he read the message, having no idea on how he was supposed to react about it. Why would she send him this? Only to twist the knife in his wounds?

Why did she want to remind him of a better time? When he wasn't heartbroken? When he was probably the happier he had even been?

Why did she send this, when SHE decided that they both needed to move on? That finally, their love affair wouldn't last due to long-distance?

He clenched his jaw and sighed, throwing his phone on the bed behind him.

He was not giving up. But instead of writing something stupid, he decided to not answer her text.

* * *

So yeah. Hope you guys don't hate me!

I'll try my best to update soon!

Gen xx


	10. Author's Note

**_Hello everybody._**

**_First of all, I want to thank you all so much for your kind words about this story, but sadly, I decided to stop writing it._**

**_I had many ideas for this fic, and I wanted My Only Love to be kind of an "explanation" for the fuckery that is Season 4._**

**_And... I just don't have the inspiration to write for it anymore. The way they treated Sam as a character, and Samcedes kinda pissed me off, to be honest. _**

**_I wanted to tell about Mercedes' life in LA, and I wanted to explain WHY Bram happened..._**

**_Two of my favorite characters have been treated like they were only props, swaying in the background, saying their catchprhrases when needed... Only for other character's purpose. I don't know if you guys catch my drift? _**

**_So, I'm currently working on another fic, slightly AU, where Sam and Mercedes meet again at the Grammys, 7 years without speaking to each other._**

**_I'm also taking prompts on my tumblr (preticules) so if you guys have any ideas, you can come by and drop it!_**

**_Thank you all so much again for your words, and I'm very sorry._**

**_Gen xx_**


End file.
